BENJAMIN 
VFRANKUN/ 


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Hmericaii  /iDen  ot  iBncvQ^ 


Ov  Tci';^ij  ovSe  loSeia  ovSe  <TTOal  oiiSe  6  rif 
di/iuxuc  KocTfios  ai  TToAct-f  eitriV,  aAA'  avSpff 
avTOii  eiSoTft  Oappeiv. 

AICIOS  ARI8TEIDE3   (u9-189  A.O,). 

NEITHER  WALLS,  THEATRES,  PORCHES,  NOR  SENSE- 
LESS EQUIPAGE,  MAKE  STATES,  BUT  MEN  WHO  ARE  ABLE 
TO    RELY    UPON    THEMSELVES. 

TRANS.     BY  ARTHUR  WILLrAMS  AUSTIN, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 


FRANKLIN   IN   1777. 

AFTER  THE  PRINT  REPRODUCED  FROM  THE  DRAWING  OF  COCHIN. 


Benjamin  Jfranhlin 

PRINTER,    STATESMAN 

PHILOSOPHER   AND   PRACTICAL 

CITIZEN 

1 706- 1 790 


BY 

EDWARD   ROBINS 

Author  of  "  Echoes  of  the  Playhouse,"  etc. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  &  LONDON 
^be  Iknickeibochcr  press 

1898 


COPVRIGHT,    l8g8 
BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 


Ube  Ikntchcrbocker  Iprcse,  Wew  l!?orh 


r-i  r  c  c/,\T  ■)  0 


K 


PREFACE 

HE  writer  who  puts  forth  a  life  of 
Benjamin  Franklin  may  feel  tempted 
to  apologise  for  his  seeming  audacity. 
The  literature  devoted  to  the  career 
of  this  great  American  is  volumin- 
ous, and  the  works  of  Sparks,  Bigelow,  Parton,  Mc- 
Master,  and  Morse  form  in  themselves  a  noble 
tribute  to  his  many-sided  genius.  Yet  the  years  of 
this  typical  American  were  so  full  of  action  and 
variety,  so  rich  in  interesting  detail,  and  so  import- 
ant in  their  general  results,  that  the  presentation  of 
a  record  of  them  considered  from  a  new  point  of 
view,  is  a  congenial  occupation  which  calls  for  no 
excuse.  It  would  indeed  be  difficult  to  lay  too 
much  stress  upon  the  story  of  one  whose  practical 
devotion  to  the  common  good  should  excite  the 
liveliest  admiration,  particularly  at  a  time  when  we 
hear  loud  complaints  about  "  political  corruption," 
"  civic  demoralisation,"  and  the  like.  Franklin  was 
the  embodiment  of  public  spirit.  I  lis  curious  com- 
bination of  lofty  patriotism  and  worldly  sense  offers 
a  perennial  object-lesson  to  the  average  statesman 
or  average  citizen  of  to-day,  while  his  readiness  to 


isS'isio 


Iv  Preface 

serve  his  country,  his  province,  or  America  at  large, 
might  be  recalled  with  profit  by  those  inconsistent 
voters  who,  although  they  refuse  to  share  in  the 
burden  of  government,  cry  out  lustily  for  adminis- 
trative reforms. 

I  need  not,  therefore,  offer  any  plea  of  extenua- 
tion for  thus  adding  to  the  formidable  mass  of 
Frankliniana,  beyond  acquitting  myself  of  any  vain 
desire  to  compete  with,  or  to  imitate,  the  bio- 
graphies of  the  past.  My  purpose  has  been  to  give, 
as  it  were,  a  composite  picture  of  the  man,  to  show 
his  character  and  activities,  and  to  touch  briefly 
upon  the  national  conditions  which  brought  the 
latter  into  play.  That  the  narrative  has  been  chosen 
as  the  forerunner  of  a  series  of  biographical  studies 
on  American  subjects,  is  an  honour  of  which  I  am 
fully  appreciative.  I  desire  also  to  express  my  ac- 
knowledgments for  the  valuable  counsel  received 
during  the  preparation  of  my  work  at  the  rooms  of 
the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  and  my 
special  indebtedness  to  Messrs.  John  W.  Jordan 
and  Thomas  Allen  Glenn. 

Philadelphia,  February  i,  1898. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
THE    "father    of    THE    MAN  "  ( X  706-1 727) 


PAGE 

I 


CHAPTER    n. 
AN    EDITOR    OF    THE    OLD    SCHOOL  (  r  7  28-I  740)  .  ;^;^ 

CHAPTER    in. 
THE    SERVANT    OF    THE    PUBLIC    (1736-I754)  .  62 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE    PHILOSOPHER  IN   MARTIAL  MOOD  (1755-1756).  92 


CHAPTER   V. 
A    BATTLE    WITH    THE    PENNS    (1756-1762) 

CHAPTER    VI. 
IN    THORNY    PATHS    (1762-1765) 


119 


144 


CHAPTER    VII. 
WORKING    FOR    THE    COLONIES    (1766-1773)      .  ,       175 


VI 


Contents 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

PAGE 

"a  man  of  letters  "  (1773-1774)        .         .         .     200 


CHAPTER    IX. 
THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    INDEPENDENCE    (1774-1776).       224 

CHAPTER   X. 
THE    MISSION    TO    FRANCE    (1776-1778)    .  .  .       253 

CHAPTER    XI. 
PLAY    AND    POLITICS    (1777-1783)     ....       278 

CHAPTER    XII. 
A    RETROSPECT    (1746-1783) 3OI 

CHAPTER   XIII. 
FINAL    DAYS    (1784-1790) 325 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FRANKLIN  IN  1 777  .  •  •  •         Frontispiece 

After  the  print  reproduced  from  the  drawing  of 
Cochin. 

TITLE-PAGE  OF    CICERO'S    "  CATO    MAJOR*'        .  .  4° 

One  of  Franklin's  earlier  publications. 

franklin's    puzzle,    how    to    make    MONEY.  .  46 

Reproduced  from  a  copper-plate  print  by  permis- 
sion of  Mrs.  Frances  H.  Hoyt. 

THE   PHILADELPHIA    LIBRARY.       THE    OLD    BUILDING 

ON    FIFTH    STREET,     NOW    DEMOLISHED        .  .  56 

From  the  engraving  by  W.  Birch  &  Son. 


THE  PENNSYLVANIA    HOSPITAL,  PHILADELPHIA 
From  an  old  engraving  by  W.  Birch  &  .Son. 

THOMAS    PENN  ....••■ 

From  a  painting  owned  by  the  Historical  Society 

of  Pennsylvania,  and  copied  by  M.  I.  Naylor, 

from    the    portrait    in    possession    of    Major 

Dugald  Stuart. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  ...... 

From  a  painting  by  Charles  Willson  Peale,  owned 
by  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
vii 


90 


118 


140 


VIU 


Illustrations 


SECOND   STREET,    PHILADELPHIA,   SHOWING   THE  OLD 

COURT-HOUSE     TO     THE    LEFT  .  .  .        l66 

From  an  engraving  made  by  W.  Birch  &  Son. 

GREAT  BRITAIN  TRUNCATED  .....        226 
After  the  emblematical  design  prepared  by  Frank- 
lin and  engraved  for  him  on  copper-plate. 

carpenters'    HALL,    PHILADELPHIA,     WHEREIN    MET 

THE    FIRST    CONTINENTAL    CONGRESS  .  .        23O 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  F.  Gutekunst, 
Philadelphia. 

THE  EARL  OF  CHATHAM  .....        236 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  the  His- 
torical Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

franklin's  CREDENTIALS  AS  MINISTER    .  .  .        254 

Photographed  by  the  permission  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

BEAUMARCHAIS         .......        262 

FRANKLIN  FOUND  BY  DIOGENES  ....        266 

From  an  old  French  engraving. 

MARIE  ANTOINETTE  ......        276 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN         ......        288 

From  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  the  His- 
torical Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

THE  AMERICAN  PEACE  COMMISSION  ....  294 
After  the  unfinished  painting  by  Benjamin  West  in 
the  possession  of  Lord  Belper.  From  a  photo- 
graph bequeathed  by  Chas.  Sumner  to  the 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston.  The  figures, 
from  the  left  of  the  picture  to  the  right,  are 
Jay,  Adams,  Franklin,  Laurens,  and  W.  T. 
Franklin.  Reproduced  from  a  photograph 
taken  by  Baldwin  Coolidge. 


Illustrations 


IX 


franklin's  ELECTRICAL  MACHINE  .  .  .  .       314 

Owned  by  the  Franklin  Institute. 

THE  PENNSYLVANIA   FIREPLACE  ....       32O 

THE   ARMONICA  .......       324 

Instrument  designed  by  Franklin  as  an  improve- 
ment upon  the  musical  glasses. 

MARITIME  OBSERVAT'ONS  .....       33O 

After  designs  of  nautical  improvements  suggested 
by  Franklin. 

MARITIME  OBSERVATIONS  .....       34O 

After  designs  of  nautical  improvements  suggested 
by  Franklin. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    "  FATHER   OF   THE    MAN  " 
1 706-1 727 

OME  of  us  have  heard  and  laughed  at 
the  legend  of  the  schoolboy  who, 
being  asked  to  prepare  a  composition 
with  Benjamin  Franklin  as  the  sub- 
ject, finally  wrote  the  following  ex- 
haustive essay:  "  Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  wonder- 
ful man.  He  invented  the  Franklin  stove."  To 
this  ingenuous  student  the  "  modern  Socrates  "  was 
nothing  more  than  a  manufacturer  of  heaters,  and 
the  treatise  bore  amusing  testimony  to  the  danger 
of  regarding  greatness  from  only  one  point  of  view. 
Yet  not  a  few  better-informed  persons,  who  are  quick 
to  smile  at  this  piece  of  childish  literature,  have  a 
fashion  of  falling  into  a  similar  error.  They  do  not, 
to  be  sure,  look  upon  the  stove  as  the  bright  partic- 
ular triumph  of  Franklin's  existence,  but  they  are 

I 


2  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

prone  to  see  the  man  in  one  light,  and  in  one  light 
alone.  It  matters  not  whether  that  depicts  him  in 
the  guise  either  of  statesman,  philosopher,  printer, 
or  mere  utilitarian ;  the  fact  remains  that  to  examine 
this  heroic  and  yet  essentially  human  figure  without 
considering  it  as  a  whole  is  to  lose  all  sense  of  its 
true  proportion. 

If,  however,  we  take  warning  by  the  case  of  the 
boy  and  the  stove,  and  give  to  Franklin  the  right 
perspective,  we  are  impressed  at  once  by  the  pic- 
turesque features  of  his  career,  and  by  the  dra- 
matic elements  with  which  it  was  frequently  tinged. 
Perhaps  the  terms,  "  picturesque  "  and  "  dramatic," 
seem  startling  to  those  who  are  apt  to  think  of  Frank- 
lin rather  as  a  sage  than  as  a  man  of  action,  yet  the  two 
adjectives  are  worthy  of  emphasis,  and  of  more 
emphasis,  indeed,  than  they  usually  receive.  For, 
while  this  hero  of  an  infant  nation  had  nothing  of 
the  romantic  in  his  spiritual  or  bodily  equipment, 
his  life  was  full  of  colour  and  stirring  incident,  with 
here  and  there  a  contrast  almost  theatrical  in  its 
nature.  And  of  these  contrasts  none  is  more  vivid 
than  the  one  furnished  by  comparing  the  radically 
different  surroundings  which  marked  the  earthly 
entrance  and  exit  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  He  who 
was  to  chat  with  kings  (albeit  poor  specimens  of  the 
craft)  and  enjoy  the  incense  of  admiration  as  it  came 
from  many  parts  of  the  civilised  world,  and  who  was 
to  die  in  the  odour  of  an  international  reputation, 
began  to  work  out  his  existence  amid  the  not  over- 
inspiring  atmosphere  of  a  soap-boiling  and  tallow- 
chandlcring  shop. 


1727]       The  *'  Father  of  the  Man  "  3 

Contrasts  like  this  have  since  been  reproduced  in 
American  history,  and  are  often  used  to  point  a 
moral  or  adorn  a  biography,  although  there  are  in- 
stances of  persons  who,  being  thrown  into  the  fierce 
light  of  celebrity,  become  anxious  to  conceal  or  to 
forget  as  much  as  possible  the  humbleness  of  their 
early  years.  There  was  none  of  this  affectation 
about  Franklin,  and  the  story  of  his  boyhood, 
which  he  tells  in  so  entertaining  and  dispassionate  a 
manner  in  the  famous  Autobiography,^  is  peculiarly 
refreshing  at  a  time  when  there  is  a  tendency  in 
certain  quarters  of  American  life  to  attach  vast  im- 
portance to  ancient  lineage,  and  to  linger  a  little  too 
long  and  lovingly  over  the  pedigrees  of  useless  but 
aristocratic  ancestors.  Franklin  was  vain,  after  a 
frank,  pardonable  fashion,  but  there  was  in  his  com- 
position not  an  iota  of  false  pride.  He  rather 
revelled  in  the  fact  of  his  being  what  is  now  styled 
a  "  self-made  man."  In  the  very  first  paragraph  of 
the  'Autobiography  he  explains  as  one  of  his  reasons 
for  writing  the  memoir  that  "  having  emerged  from 
the  poverty  and  obscurity  in  which  I  was  born  and 
bred,  to  a  state  of  affluence  and  som.e  degree  of 
reputation  in  the  world,  and  having  gone  so  far 
through  life  with  a  considerable  share  of  felicity,  the 
conducing  means  I  made  use  of,  which  with  the 
blessing  of  God  so  well  succeeded,  my  posterity  may 


*  The  vicissitudes  which  befell  the  original  copy  of  Franklin's 
Atitobiography  form  in  themselves  an  interesting  episode,  and  are 
duly  set  forth  by  Mr.  Bigelow  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Complete 
Works  of  Bmhimin  Franklin,  G,  V.  i^utiiam's  Sons,  New  York, 
J887, 


4  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

like  to  know,  as  they  may  find  some  of  them  suit- 
able to  their  own  situations,  and  therefore  fit  to  be 
imitated." 

And  yet,  even  the  self-successful  author  of  the 
above  lines  owed  something  to  his  own  ancestors, 
for  they  bequeathed  to  him  that  virility  of  character 
and  clearness  of  mind  which,  like  the  presence  of 
two  guardian  angels,  influenced  his  whole  life. 

The  Franklins  from  whom  he  took  his  name  had 
kept  a  village  smithy  in  Northamptonshire,  Eng- 
land, for  three  centuries  or  more,  and  a  rugged, 
honest,  healthy  lot  of  progenitors  they  seem  to  have 
been.  Thomas  Franklin,  one  of  Benjamin's  uncles, 
was  a  "  chief  mover  of  all  public-spirited  undertak- 
ings for  the  county  or  town  of  Northampton,  and 
his  own  village,"  being  endowed  with  much  of  the 
civic  pride  that  was  to  shine,  later  on,  in  the  nephew ; 
Benjamin,  another  uncle,  who  naturally  took  a  laud- 
able interest  in  his  namesake,  had  a  sprightly  mind, 
with  an  ingenuity  not  unworthy  of  the  greater  Ben, 
and  a  talent,  like  the  latter,  for  writing  indifferent 
verse;  while  Josiah  Franklin,  the  father  of  our  hero, 
was  the  happy  possessor  of  a  "  mechanical  genius," 
a  "  sound  understanding,  and  solid  judgment  in 
prudential  matters,  both  in  private  and  publick 
affairs."  In  short,  it  is  only  necessary  to  read  the 
earlier  portion  of  the  Autobiography  to  be  convinced, 
apart  from  other  and  more  scientific  proofs,  that  the 
law  of  heredity  at  times  wields  a  mighty  force. 

Josiah  Franklin,  this  sturdy  Englishman  with  the 
sound  understanding,  became  a  Nonconformist,  and 
thereupon  left  the  old  country  in  1682  to  seek  the 


1727]       The  "  Father  of  the  Man"  5 

more  congenial  air  of  New  England,  bringing  with 
him  his  wife  and  three  children,  and  settling  down 
peacefully  in  Boston.  Here  he  discarded  his  trade 
of  dyer  to  enter  into  the  more  remunerative  business 
of  soap-boiling  and  tallow-chandlering ;  here  the  first 
Mistress  Franklin  had  four  more  children  and  then 
died;  and  here,  too,  Josiah  subsequently  married 
Abiah  Folger,  an  estimable  woman  whose  memory 
would  long  since  have  sunk  into  oblivion  had  she 
not  become  in  January,  1706  (January  6th,  old  style; 
January  17th,  new  style),  the  mother  of  Benjamin. 
Were  it  not,  likewise,  for  this  natal  incident,  the 
good  lady's  father,  Peter  Folger,  would  hardly  be 
known  to  fame  in  a  hurried  age,  for  the  book  in 
which  he  is  mentioned,  Cotton  Mather's  dust- 
covered  j\Iag}ialia  Cliristi  Americana,  is  not  to  be 
found  in  those  distributing  centres  of  fame,  the  cir- 
culating libraries.  But,  as  it  happens,  we  listen 
with  eagerness  to  what  is  written  of  old  Peter  in  the 
Autobiography,  and  when  we  are  told  that  he  was  a 
great  advocate  of  liberty  of  conscience,  the  imagina- 
tion is  quick  to  trace  a  likeness  between  grandfather 
and  grandson. 

The  arrival  of  young  Benjamin  made  Josiah 
Franklin  the  proud  father  of  fifteen  children,  and, 
no  doubt,  incited  the  paterfamilias  to  renewed  exer- 
tion in  the  manufacture  of  soap  and  candles,  for  the 
family  had  to  be  fed,  and  incomes,  at  the  best,  were 
not  very  large  in  primitive  Boston.  Those  were 
frugal  days,  when  every  penny  counted,  and  the  boy 
was  brought  up  in  an  economical  yet  kindly  house- 
hold.     Love  of  kindred  and  the  husbanding  of  scant 


6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

resources  must  have  been  the  prevailing  virtues  in 
this  Puritan  home,  and  both  influences  had  their 
share  in  moulding  the  character  of  the  youth  who  in 
after  life  was  to  be  distinguished  by  an  affectionate 
regard  for  his  relations,  and  a  financial  wisdom 
which  on  occasion  degenerated  into  parsimony. 
Furthermore,  Josiah  aimed  to  introduce  at  his  table 
topics  of  conversation  by  no  means  confined  to  a 
discussion  of  what  was  spread  thereon,  and  it  w^as  to 
this  species  of  intellectual  repast,  wherein  "  little  or 
no  notice  was  ever  taken  of  what  related  to  the 
victuals,"  that  Franklin  owed  his  ability  to  main- 
tain, when  he  so  desired,  an  absurdly  simple  diet. 
He  could,  and  sometimes  did,  enjoy  the  flesh-pots 
of  Egypt  in  more  senses  than  one,  but  there  was 
always  behind  the  grosser  phase  of  his  nature  the 
power  of  abstinence,  and  even  of  self-sacrifice.  If 
he  knew  how  to  gratify  his  tastes  he  also  knew  how 
to  subdue  them,  and  thereby  displayed  strength  of 
mind,  if  not  consistency. 

Up  to  a  certain  point  the  youthful  years  of  the 
boy  offer  nothing  very  striking  or  significant,  ex- 
cepting the  fact  that  among  the  lads  of  his  own  age 
Ben  was  always  the  leader.  Then,  as  later,  he  had 
the  singular  faculty  of  getting  into  prominence  more 
through  strength  of  character  than  from  any  appar- 
ent effort  on  his  part.  Then,  as  always,  he  might 
have  been  ambitious,  but  his  fertility  of  resource 
kept  pace  with  his  ambition,  and  the  one  helped  the 
other  toward  success.  After  two  years  of  school 
life,  during  which  he  failed  dismally  in  arithmetic, 
strange  to  say,  but  learned  to  write  a  good  hand,  he 


1727]       The  ''  Father  of  the  Man  "  7 

was  placed  at  the  age  of  ten  in  his  father's  shop, 
where  the  cutting  of  candle-wicks,  filling  of  moulds, 
and  running  of  errands,  gave  the  youngster  plenty 
of  employment.  This  proved  conclusively  that 
Josiah  had  abandoned  his  original  intention  of  de- 
voting his  youngest  son  to  the  service  of  the  Church 
— a  change  of  plan  which  may  be  considered  as  of 
ultimate  benefit  both  to  Ben  and  to  the  Church. 
And  so  everything  indicated  that  he  would  develop 
into  a  soap-boiler  and  chandler  of  the  approved 
type,  succeed  his  father  in  due  time,  grow  prosper- 
ous, marry,  die,  and  be  buried  in  oblivion. 

Although  in  after  life  Franklin  pointed  out  that 
cleanliness  was  next  to  godliness,  he  had  no  great 
affinity  for  soap  so  far  as  the  making  of  it  was  con- 
cerned. He  soon  betrayed  a  vague  restlessness,  a 
longing  for  greater  things,  which  perhaps  had  its 
most  notable  illustration  in  his  passion  for  reading 
with  avidity  all  the  books  he  could  place  his  hands 
on,  theological  pamphlets,  the  works  of  Bunyan, 
Plutarch's  Lives  (the  latter  as  delightful  now  as 
then),  Defoe's  once  famous  Essay  on  Projects,  and 
Cotton  Mather's  Essays  to  do  Good.  Mather  advo- 
cated the  burning  of  witches,  like  other  well-meaning 
men  of  his  ascetic  cult,  but  for  all  that,  he  knew  how 
to  write  Christian  sentiments,  and  many  years  later, 
Franklin  told  the  son  of  the  pious  Cotton  that  these 
essays  had  exerted  a  great  influence  upon  him.  So 
did  the  philanthropic  Essay  on  Projects,  wherein 
Defoe  was  so  far  in  advance  of  his  time  as  to  suggest 
the  establishment  of  colleges  for  girls — a  heretical, 
not   to    say  dangerous    opinion  for  an  age  when  ^ 


8  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

woman  of  education  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion, 
as  something  weird  and  unpleasant. 

In  the  meantime  Ben  had  evinced  such  an  open 
aversion  to  his  greasy  surroundings  that  Josiah, 
after  much  fatherly  consideration  of  his  youngest 
son's  prospects,  apprenticed  him  to  James  Franklin, 
an  older  son,  who  was  tempting  fate  in  Boston  as  a 
printer.  There  had  been  some  idea  of  making  the 
boy  learn  the  cutler's  trade,  but  fortunately  for 
posterity  his  cousin  Samuel,  to  whom  he  was  to  be 
bound,  wanted  a  substantial  fee  for  the  transaction 
(he  had  the  true  Franklin  attribute  of  looking  out 
for  the  pennies),  and  so  the  scheme  came  to  naught. 
Thus  the  Church  and  cutlery  had  each  in  turn  lost  a 
quick-witted  apprentice,  and  the  world,  which  may 
have  been  deprived  thereby  of  some  poor  sermons 
and  sharp  knives,  would  come  out  the  gainer  in  the 
end.  And  yet  the  boy  was  not  enthusiastic  over  his 
new  trade.  It  was,  of  course,  far  more  congenial 
to  him  than  the  soap-making  business,  but  there 
was  deep  down  in  his  childish  breast  that  peculiar 
longing  known  as  "  wishing  to  go  to  sea."  He  got 
over  the  malady  soon  enough,  and  probably  often 
laughed  at  it  in  years  to  come,  when  he  had  to  cross 
the  Atlantic  in  uncomfortable,  uncleanly  sailing 
packets,  the  unworthy  predecessors  of  our"  ocean 
greyhounds." 

It  can  be  easily  imagined  that  the  apprentice's 
love  of  reading  found  stimulation  in  the  printing- 
ofifice  of  James  Franklin.  Books  were  easier  to  bor- 
row, and  friends  to  lend  them  proved  more  plentiful. 
And  a  little  later,    when   the   lad  was   fourteen   or 


1727]       The  "  Father  of  the  Man"  9 

fifteen,  he  tried  dipping  into  poetry,  or  rather  dog- 
gerel, but  to  no  result  other  than  that  of  finding  how 
utterly  unsuited  he  was  to  this  field  of  composition. 
The  versifying  was  soon  abandoned,  but  the  reading 
continued,  and  there  was  a  well-defined  ambition  to 
excel  in  prose  writing.  An  odd  volume  of  the 
Spectator  was  triumphantly  secured,  the  essays  were 
read  and  then  rewritten  from  memory,  after  which 
came  the  comparison  with  the  original.  That  these 
comparisons  were  not  always  odious  may  be  inferred 
from  Franklin's  admission  that  he  "  sometimes  had 
the  pleasure  of  fancying  that  in  certain  particulars 
of  small  import,"  he  "  had  been  lucky  enough  to 
improve  the  method  of  the  language."  Even  the 
Spectator  was  not  above  improvement. 

When  he  was  about  sixteen  years  old  the  young 
printer  read  a  book  advocating  a  vegetable  diet. 
He  accordingly  followed  out  for  a  time  the  precepts 
of  the  bucolic  author,  saved  money  thereby,  and 
devoted  the  surplus  pence  to  the  acquisition  of  new 
volumes — a  circumstance  suggesting  the  rather  cyni- 
cal question  as  to  whether  or  not  many  boys  of  the 
present  year,  1898,  would  half  starve  themselves  in 
order  to  buy  literature  with  the  coin  thus  accruing. 
Then  we  find  the  vegetarian  delving  into  Locke, 
Shaftesbury,  and  Collins,  getting  very  unsettled  in 
his  religious  views,  and  indulging  much  in  arguments 
on  the  subject  with  persons  whom  he  always  under- 
took to  vanquish,  according  to  the  insidious  Socratic 
method  of  disputation.  They  must  have  looked 
upon  him  as  a  bit  of  a  bore.  It  was  the  case  of  the 
youth  filled  to  overflowing  with  the  importance  of 


lo  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

his  newly  acquired  learning,  and  we  all  know  that  at 
this  stage  he  is  generally  a  safe  young  gentleman  to 
avoid. 

But  these  were  boyish  weaknesses.  The  real  busi- 
ness and  struggles  of  Franklin's  life  were  about  to 
begin  in  earnest,  and  he  was  first  to  try  his  hand  at 
what  we  now  term  "  journalism."  The  journalism 
of  the  past  and  the  journalism  of  the  present  have, 
however,  few  points  of  likeness,  and  this  is  the  more 
readily  to  be  understood  when  we  contrast  one  of 
the  imposing  newspapers  of  to-day,  with  its  blanket- 
sheet  editions,  its  throng  of  editors,  printers,  and 
miscellaneous  employes,  its  enterprise  and  its  prodi- 
gal expenditure  of  money  in  the  search  of  news, 
with  the  petty  pamphlet  which  modestly  appeared 
in  Boston  during  the  latter  part  of  September,  1690, 
and  thus  established  a  claim  to  being  the  "  first 
American  newspaper. ' '  The  number  had  four  pages 
(the  last  page  was  blank),  with  two  columns  on  a 
page,  and  the  size  of  each  page  was  seven  by  eleven 
inches!  Publick  Occurrences  Foreign  and  Domes- 
tic was  the  title  of  the  sheet;  it  was,  according  to 
the  prospectus,  to  be  published  once  a  month,  or 
oftener,  "  if  any  glut  of  occurrences  happen,"  and 
was  to  have  an  account  of  "  such  considerable  things 
as  have  arrived  unto  our  Notice."  The  aims  of  the 
Occurrences  were  laudable,  even  ideal,  and  it  is 
interesting  in  this  era  of  libel  suits  and  "  yellow 
journalism  "  to  mark  that  the  publisher  promised, 
"  toward  the  Curing,  or  at  least  the  Charming  of 
the  Spirit  of  Lying,"  that  when  "  there  appears 
any  material  mistake  in  anything  that  is  collected, 


1-27]        The  *•  Father  of  the  Man  "  n 

it  shall  be  corrected  in  the  next."  This  advocate 
of  truth  —  this  really  worthy  forerunner  of  the 
"  Fourth  Estate"  in  America  —  began  its  career 
without  advertisements,  that  feature  so  essential  to 
the  life  of  the  modern  paper,  and  without  editorials. 
There  are  some  cynics  of  to-day,  by  the  way,  who 
think- that  advertisement  plays  entirely  too  promi- 
nent a  part  in  the  management  of  the  average  news- 
paper, and  who  could  even  dispense  with  editorials. 
The  career  of  Piiblick  Occurrences  was  brief, 
despite  the  praiseworthy  intentions  of  its  founder. 
In  four  days  the  paper  was  suppressed,  possibly  be- 
cause the  editor  (or  printer,  as  he  was  then  termed) 
showed  a  tendency  to  discuss  too  freely  the  actions 
of  those  in  authority.  He  had  yielded  to  the  temp- 
tation of  writing  editorials,  and  that  doomed  him. 
Fourteen  years  later  John  Campbell,  the  postmaster 
of  Boston,  started  the  News  Letter,  a  stupid  venture 
which  finally  attained  the  enormous  circulation  of 
three  hundred  copies,  and  was  wont  to  print  Euro- 
pean news  anywhere  from  five  to  thirteen  months 
late.  Then,  in  December,  17 19,  came  the  Boston 
Gazette,  founded  by  the  new  postmaster,  William 
Brocker,  and  in  the  printing  of  this  James  Franklin 
was  engaged.  The  postmaster  lost  his  place;  his 
successor  bought  the  Gazette,  and  James,  who  was 
no  longer  employed  to  issue  the  sheet,  began 
(August,  1 721)  the  publication  of  an  enterprise  of 
his  own,  the  Nezv  England  Conrant.  It  was  a  lively 
afTair,  and  what  we  should  now  characterise  as  essen- 
tially up  to  date ;  public  matters  were  touched  upon 
with  independence  and  humour.     The  Gazette  by 


t^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

comparison  seemed  duller  than  ever,  as  did  the 
Nczvs  Letter.  The  three  papers  were  soon  engaged 
in  a  triangidar  warfare  that  would  have  done  justice 
to  the  bickering  spirit  of  three  Arizona  editors 
obliged  by  an  unkind  fate  to  live  in  the  same  town. 

The  young  but  rapidly  expanding  Benjamin 
jumped  into  this  fray  with  nimbleness  and  ready 
wit.  Not  content  with  assisting  in  printing  the 
paper,  and  then  carrying  it  around  the  town  to 
subscribers,  he  must  needs  try  his  hand  at  con- 
tributing to  it.  James  Franklin,  he  tells  us,  "had 
some  ingenious  men  among  his  friends,  who  amused 
themselves  by  writing  little  pieces  for  this  paper, 
which  gained  it  credit  and  made  it  more  in  demand, 
and  these  gentlemen  often  visited  us.  Hearing 
their  conversations  and  their  accounts  of  the  appro- 
bation their  papers  were  received  with,  I  was  excited 
to  try  my  hand  among  them ;  but,  being  still  a  boy, 
and  suspecting  that  my  brother  would  object  to 
printing  anything  of  mine  in  his  paper  if  he  knew  it 
to  be  mine,  I  contrived  to  disguise  my  hand,  and, 
writing  an  anonymous  paper,  I  put  it  in  at  night, 
under  the  door  of  the  printing-house.  It  was  found 
in  the  morning,  and  communicated  to  his  writing 
friends  when  they  called  in  as  usual.  They  read  it, 
commented  on  it  in  my  hearing,  and  I  had  the  ex- 
quisite pleasure  of  finding  it  met  with  their  appro- 
bation, and  that,  in  their  different  guesses  at  the 
author,  none  were  named  but  men  of  some  charac- 
ter among  us  for  learning  and  ingenuity." 

A  familiar  story,  to  be  sure,  but  like  some  pretty 
fairy-tale   it   bears    repetition.      And  how  one    can 


1727]       The  *'  Father  of  the  Man  "  13 

read  between  the  lines  the  shrewdness  which  always 
ran  through  Franklin's  character,  like  a  wee  bit  of 
the  fox  lurking  in  the  composition  of  some  majestic 
lion!  Ben  suspected,  no  doubt,  that  too  much 
ability  on  his  part  would  bring  down  upon  him  the 
jealousy  of  a  less  brilliant  brother,  and  so  he  chose 
to  introduce  his  literary  wares  with  secrecy.  Those 
wares  were,  it  is  believed,  the  "  Do  Good  Papers," 
a  series  of  articles  more  or  less  after  the  Addisonian 
manner.  One  of  them,  representing  a  dream,  was  a 
fling  at  that  young  scholastic  institution,  Harvard 
College.  The  graduates  of  the  college,  typified  in 
the  dream  as  the  Temple  of  Learning,  did  not  all 
fare  very  well  according  to  the  imprudent  young 
critic,  for  many  of  them  "  lived  as  poor  as  church- 
mice,  being  unable  to  dig,  and  ashamed  to  beg,  and 
to  live  by  their  wits  it  was  impossible."  And  yet, 
in  time,  Harvard  would  reward  the  writer  with  a 
degree. 

The  office  of  the  Conraiit  must  have  witnessed 
many  an  interesting  incident,  many  an  exciting  de- 
bate, but  none  of  them  more  interesting  or  more 
exciting,  perhaps,  than  those  which  marked  the  small- 
pox controversy.  This  dread  disease  had  made 
itself  felt  in  Boston  after  the  wholesale  manner  in 
which  it  was  accustomed  to  stalk  about,  grim  and  re- 
morseless, during  the  early  portion  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  Mathers,  more  liberal  in  the  art  of 
medicine  than  in  the  treatment  of  witches,  strongly 
advocated  the  new  experiment  of  inoculation ;  the 
Coiiraiit  as  resolutely  opposed  the  innovation,  and 
as  a  consequence  there  was  hard  feeling,  and  a  war 


14  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

of  very  bad  words.  Increase  Mather  did  what  later 
readers  have  done  when  the  opinions  of  their  papers 
were  not  to  their  Hking.  He  stopped  his  subscrip- 
tion to  the  Courant,  abused  James  FrankHn  in  terms 
of  the  choicest  vituperation,  lamented  the  degener- 
acy of  New  England,  and  pointedly  hinted  at  the 
expediency  of  suppressing  the  articles  of  the  of- 
fender. In  the  meantime,  the  controversy  (which 
waxed  so  high  that  some  miscreant  threw  a  fire- 
grenade  into  the  Mather  house)  had  the  effect  of 
increasing  the  circulation  of  the  paper,  and  an  ob- 
servant reader  may  be  pardoned  for  suspecting  that 
the  publisher  had,  through  all  the  din  and  unpleas- 
antness of  battle,  a  keen  idea  of  the  value  of  adver- 
tising. 

But  greater  troubles  than  inoculation  disagree- 
ments were  in  store  for  the  infant  journal,  and 
through  these  Benjamin  was  to  make  his  debut  as  a 
publisher  and  editor.  The  Courant  had  criticised 
with  asperity  the  ways  and  measures  of  the  Boston 
authorities,  who,  biding  their  hour,  finally  had 
James  Franklin  brought  before  them  for  printing  a 
supposed  news  paragraph  poking  fun  at  their  slow- 
ness of  action.  The  Council  interrogated  the  printer. 
He  declined  to  name  the  writer  of  the  paragraph. 
Ben  also  sturdily  refused  an  answer  to  the  same 
question — an  independence  of  spirit  for  which  he 
was  excused  on  the  ground,  presumably,  that  an  ap- 
prentice should  not  be  called  upon  to  testify  against 
the  interests  of  his  master.  James,  less  fortunate 
than  his  brother,  spent  a  month  in  prison.  During 
that  time  Ben  directed  the  fortunes  of  the  rapidly 


1727]       The  ''  Father  of  the  Man  "  15 

growing  if  somewhat  adventurous  Coiirant.  Six 
montlis  later  James  printed  a  bitter  article  reflecting 
so  savagely  upon  the  governing  powers  that  he  was 
forbidden  thereafter  to  publish  the  Courant  or  any 
other  paper,  unless  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  province. 

"  There  was  a  consultation  held  in  our  printing-house  among  his 
friends  [says  Franklin,  in  writing  of  his  brother's  predicament],  what 
he  should  do  in  this  case.  Some  proposed  to  evade  the  order  by 
changing  the  name  of  the  paper  ;  but  my  brother,  seeing  inconven- 
iences in  that,  it  was  finally  concluded  on  as  a  better  way,  to  let  it  be 
printed  for  the  future  under  the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin  ;  and  to 
avoid  the  censure  of  the  Assembly,  that  might  fall  on  him  as  still 
printing  it  by  his  apprentice,  the  contrivance  was  that  my  old  indent- 
ure should  be  returned  to  me,  with  a  full  discharge  on  the  back  of  it, 
to  be  shown  on  occasion,  but  to  secure  to  him  the  benefit  of  my  serv- 
ice, I  was  to  sign  new  indentures  for  the  remainder  of  the  term, 
which  were  to  be  kept  private." 

As  Franklin  adds,  a  "  very  flimsy  scheme  it  was," 
but  it  was  put  into  effect,  and  Benjamin  became  the 
ostensible  printer  of  the  Courant.  The  elder  brother 
was  in  reality  the  controlling  spirit,  but  the  ex- 
apprentice  wrote  for  the  paper,  and  often  turned  the 
dart  of  his  wit  upon  the  austerity  and  what  he  chose 
to  consider  the  hypocrisy  of  certain  professors  of  the 
accepted  religion.  In  short,  the  Courant  seems  to 
have  been  anything  but  a  conservative  sheet,  and  its 
articles  sometimes  amused,  and  sometimes  scandal- 
ised the  Puritans  who  read  it,  ignorant  as  many  of 
them  were  that  an  important  contributor  to  that  fun 
and  scandal  was  the  sprightly  Ben  himself.  The 
wonder  of  it  is  that  the  Coiirant  was  allowed  to  exist 
at  all,  for  the  press  was  in  its  infancy,  and  there  were 


1 6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

no  theories  as  to  liberty  of  public  opinion,  so  far  as 
the  aforesaid  liberty  might  concern  a  printer.  In 
the  eyes  of  the  Boston  magistrates  a  paper  was 
something  to  be  tolerated  or  suppressed  according 
to  their  own  august  will. 

As  it  happened,  the  Cojirant  was  soon  to  lose  the 
services  of  its  ostensible  publisher.  The  two  brothers 
had  not  been  on  the  best  of  terms  of  late;  Ben  was 
saucy  and  provoking  and  puffed  up,  no  doubt,  with 
a  boyish  sense  of  his  own  talents  and  importance, 
while  James,  on  his  side,  had  become  jealous  of  the 
youngster.  To  the  impertinences  of  the  lad  the 
elder  responded  with  blows,  and  it  may  be  imagined 
that  this  state  of  affairs  was  not  to  last  very  long. 
As  a  result  of  some  fresh  altercation  Ben  made  up 
his  mind  to  leave  the  printing-office,  shrewdly  sur- 
mising that,  his  old  indentures  having  been  can- 
celled, and  his  brother  being  afraid  to  produce  the 
new  ones  (for  fear  of  exposing  his  little  conspiracy 
against  the  Council),  it  would  be  very  easy  to  depart 
unmolested  by  the  law,  which  bound  an  apprentice 
to  fill  out  his  term.  Not  a  strictly  honourable 
episode  in  Franklin's  history,  and  he  afterward  was 
quick  to  admit  that  he  took  an  unfair  advantage  of 
his  brother — "  one  of  the  first  errata  of  my  life," 
he  terms  it.  But  that  point  of  honour  had  no  con- 
sideration at  the  moment,  so  the  inevitable  break 
came.  Nor  was  James  more  magnanimous,  for  he 
asked  the  other  printers  of  Boston  to  refuse  employ- 
ment to  his  brother. 

This  fraternal  move  decided  the  apprentice  to 
shake  the  dust  of  the  Hub  from  his  feet,  and  none 


1727]       The  "  Father  of  the  Man  "  17 

the  less  was  he  impelled  thereto  upon  reflecting  that 
he  had  become,  by  his  Courant  diatribes,  a  persona 
non  grata  to  not  a  few  of  his  fellow-townsmen. 
There  were  many  things  in  his  native  place  which 
he  woidd  have  reformed,  and  he  had  already  learned 
that  to  be  a  reformer  is  not,  necessarily,  to  be  popu- 
lar. Furthermore,  Josiah  Franklin  sympathised  with 
James,  and  no  encouragement  under  the  paternal 
roof-tree  was  rebellious  Ben  to  expect.  Accord- 
ingly, with  the  aid  of  John  Collins,  a  "  bookish  lad  " 
with  whom  he  used  to  discuss  and  settle  to  his  own 
satisfaction  the  affairs  of  the  universe,  he  ran  off, 
or  rather  sailed  off,  to  New  York  in  a  sloop  com- 
manded by  a  friendly  captain.  He  soon  found 
himself  in  that  city  (October,  1723),  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  without  recommendation  to  any  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  with  no  more  money  in  his  pocket 
than  the  little  he  had  raised  by  the  sale  of  his 
precious  books.  This  was  the  youthful  Benjamin 
Franklin,  as  revealed  to  us  in  the  Autobiography, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the 
picture — a  rugged,  sturdy  fellow,  full  of  confidence 
in  himself,  canny,  clear  of  head,  with  undefined 
ambitions,  and  if  not  always  as  disinterested  as  one 
might  wish,  at  least,  full  of  that  indomitable  spirit 
which  was  to  waft  him,  slowly  but  steadily,  toward 
a  noble  success. 

It  has  been  said  that  a  printer  who  understands 
his  trade  need  never  starve.  Probably,  Ben  was  im- 
pressed with  the  force  of  this  axiom,  for  upon  arriv- 
ing in  New  York  he  at  once  sought  out  William 
Bradford,   the  pioneer  typesetter  of  Pennsylvania, 


1 8  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

now  a  practical  exile  from  the  Quaker  province. 
The  story  of  the  young  man's  experience  during 
this  journey  is  familiar  enough.  How  he  was  ad- 
vised by  Bradford  to  go  to  Philadelphia  (where  lived 
his  son,  Andrew  Bradford),  how  he  took  the  veter- 
an's advice,  crossed  over  to  Amboy  by  boat,  after 
several  exciting  adventures,  including  his  rescue  of 
a  drunken  Dutchman  from  drowning,  and  how  he 
trudged  on  foot  through  New  Jersey  to  quiet  Bur- 
lington— these  bits  of  itinerary  have  been  described 
again  and  again,  as,  no  doubt,  they  will  be  re- 
described  for  many  a  year  to  come.  A  good  story 
is  always  in  order,  and  thus  even  the  jaded  historian 
finds  something  fresh  and  entertaining  in  the  early 
wandering  of  the  man  whose  son  was,  in  after  years, 
to  become  Governor  of  the  very  State  through  which 
the  father  wended  his  humble,  uncomfortable  way. 
Contrasts  of  this  kind  never  lose  their  interest. 

At  Burlington  Franklin  lodged  with  an  old  woman 
of  limited  purse,  but  unlimited  heart;  there  he 
managed  to  board  a  boat  destined  for  Philadelphia, 
and  reached  his  future  home  on  a  Sunday  morning. 
It  was  a  curious  entry  into  Quaker  life,  when  viewed 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  and  the  hero  of  it 
never  ceased  to  revel,  pardonably  enough,  in  the 
memory  of  it. 

"  I  was  in  my  working  dress,  my  best  clothes  being  to  come  round 
by  sea.  I  was  dirty  from  my  journey  ;  my  pockets  were  stuffed  out 
with  shirts  and  stockings,  and  I  knew  no  soul,  nor  where  to  look  for 
lodging.  I  was  fatigued  with  travelling,  rowing,  and  want  of  rest ; 
I  was  very  hungry  ;  and  my  whole  stock  of  cash  consisted  of  a  Dutch 
dollar,  and  about  a  shilling  in  copper.  The  latter  I  gave  the  people 
of  the  boat  for  my  passage." 


1727]       The  ''  Father  of  the  Man  "  19 

He  bought  three  puffy  rolls  at  a  baker's — Philadel- 
phia bakers  still  sell  puffy  rolls— and  putting  a  roll 
under  each  arm,  and  eating  the  third,  walked  up 
Market  Street,  passing  a  house  where  stood  young 
Miss  Read,  his  future  wife,  who  was  much  struck 
with  the  ridiculous  appearance  of  the  boy.  That  is 
the  incident  as  Franklin  has  recorded  it,  and  while 
skeptical  persons  have  ventured  to  hint  that  the 
philosopher  chose  to  paint  the  scene  in  colours  a  trifle 
too  vivid  for  actual  fact,  there  is  no  necessity  to 
agree  with  them.  Perhaps,  if  it  were  less  familiar, 
less  hackneyed,  no  one  would  dream  of  smiling. 

The  wanderer  spent  his  first  night  in  Philadelphia 
at  a  tavern  on  Water  Street,  and  repaired  the  next 
morning  to  the  printing-of^ce  of  Andrew  Bradford. 
There,   to  his  surprise,  he  found  Andrew's  father, 
who  had  travelled  on  from  New  York  on  horseback, 
a  mode  of  conveyance  which  the  Bostonians  had  not 
been  able  to  afford.     There  was  no  opening  for  the 
boy  with  Bradford  ;  possibly  Keimer,  another  printer 
lately  established  in  town,    might  aid  him.     So  to 
Keimer  Benjamin  went,  accompanied  by  old  Brad- 
ford.    After  a  conversation  in  which  Keimer  made 
the  apprentice  show  his  proficiency  as  a  typesetter, 
and  in  which  he  incidentally  exposed  his  aims  and 
business    secrets   to    Bradford    (whom    he    did    not 
recognise),  it  was  agreed  that  the  newcomer  should 
be  given  work  in  a  short  time.     Then  Bradford  de- 
parted, and  Keimer  was  disagreeably  surprised  upon 
learning  that  he  had  been  unbosoming  himself  to 
the    father  of  his  rival.      As  for  Franklin,    he  had 
already  discovered  that  Bradford  was  a  "  crafty  old 


20  Benjamin  FrankUn  [1706- 

sophister,"  who  had  willingly  drawn  out  the  con- 
fiding Keimer,  and  that  the  latter  was  a  "  mere 
novice."  Wise  Ben  !  You  understood  human  na- 
ture even  then. 

Keimer  has  been  characterised  by  Franklin  as  a 
good  deal  of  a  knave,  yet  withal  something  of  a 
scholar,  and  very  ignorant  of  the  world.  He  was  an 
indifferent  versifier,  who  "  set  up  "  his  own  doggerel 
as  it  came  into  his  head,  and  thus  saved  anyone  else 
the  affliction  of  a  compulsory  perusal  of  his  poems. 
With  him  the  stranger  soon  got  employment,  lodg- 
ing, however,  with  Andrew  Bradford,  and  finally 
moving  from  the  latter's  home  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
Read,  father  of  the  before-mentioned  young  lady, 
who  was  later  to  become  Mrs.  Franklin.  By  this 
time  his  chest  of  clothes  had  arrived  from  Boston, 
and  the  youth,  who  was  not  impervious  in  those 
salad  days  or  a  little  later  to  the  charms  of  feminin- 
ity, flattered  himself  that  he  made  a  more  becoming 
appearance  in  the  eyes  of  Miss  Read  than  he  had 
done  when  he  startled  her  with  his  array  of  puffy 
rolls.  Thus  life  ran  on  placidly  for  several  months, 
as  Franklin  laboured  for  the  poetic  Keimer,  spent 
pleasant  evenings  with  young  Quakers  of  literary 
tastes,  and  saved  his  money.  He  tried  to  forget 
Boston,  and  the  old  times  there,  but,  likely  enough, 
did  not  altogether  succeed.  Still  he  took  comfort 
in  the  thought  that  no  one  in  New  England,  barring 
his  friend,  the  argumentative  Collins,  knew  whither 
he  had  gone.  Yet  one  of  his  family,  a  brother-in- 
law,  the  master  of  a  sloop  trading  between  Boston 
and  the  Delaware,  heard  of  the  runaway,  wrote  to 


1727]        The  "  Father  of  the  Man  "  ^i 

him  from  New  Castle,  spoke  of  the  grief  of  Ben's 
family  over  his  departure,  and  begged  him  to  return. 
To  all  of  which  Master  Franklin  wrote  a  polite  reply, 
declined  to  play  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  convinced 
the  sailor,  we  are  told,  that  he  was  not  so  much  in 
the  wrong  as  the  latter  had  believed. 

This  letter,  strangely  enough,  brought  the  printer 
to  the  admiring  attention  of  Sir  William  Keith, 
then  Governor  of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania.  It 
was  an  attention  which  F"ranklin  would  live  to  wish 
that  he  had  never  excited.  The  beginning  of  the 
affair  seemed,  however,  full  of  promise.  Keith  was 
in  New  Castle  when  the  reply  to  the  brother-in-law 
arrived,  saw  it,  and  was  greatly  impressed  that  it 
should  have  been  written  by  so  young  a  fellow. 
When  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  the  Governor  de- 
termined to  seek  out  the  truant  who  could  so  ably 
defend  himself,  and  one  day  when  Keimer  and  his 
apprentice  were  hard  at  work  the  two  were  startled 
to  see  his  Excellency  and  Colonel  French,  of  New 
Castle,  standing  in  front  of  the  house.  Keimer, 
thinking  the  visit  intended  for  him,  hurried  down- 
stairs, only  to  find  that  it  was  the  employe,  not  the 
master,  whom  the  distinguished  gentlemen  wanted. 
Keith  overwhelmed  Franklin  with  cheap  professions 
of  friendliness,  hurried  him  off  with  the  Colonel  to 
a  neighbouring  inn,  and  there,  over  a  few  glasses  of 
Madeira,  the  Governor  actually  proposed  that  his 
protc'gd  of  an  hour  should  set  up  in  business  for  him- 
self, to  which  end  he  promised  to  exert  all  his  influ- 
ence. Keith  w^ould  not  take  no  for  an  answer;  he 
would  write  a  letter    to    P'ranklin's    father,    asking 


2  2  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

Josiah's  assistance,  and  everything  should  work  to 
a  charm.  Finally,  after  dining  several  times  with 
the  Governor,  and  being  naturally  much  tickled  with 
the  fuss  made  over  him,  Ben  took  a  voyage  to  Bos- 
ton in  the  spring  of  1724, — a  short  voyage,  lasting  a 
fortnight. 

Josiah  was  glad  to  see  his  boy,  but,  like  the  sen- 
sible man  he  was,  he  thought  that  Ben  was  entirely 
too  young  to  start  a  printing  plant  of  his  own. 
What  sort  of  a  man  was  Keith,  to  propose  so  foolish 
an  undertaking  ?  That  was  the  question  he  very 
naturally  asked,  and  if  anyone  had  told  him  that 
the  Governor  was  an  emotional,  insincere  man,  loud 
in  promises,  but  not  so  loud  in  their  fulfilment,  no 
injustice  would  have  been  done.  The  upshot  of  the 
matter  was  that  the  father  negatived  the  scheme, 
and  all  that  the  son  obtained  was  the  paternal  bless- 
ings, a  few  small  gifts,  and  a  deal  of  good  advice, 
including  a  caution  to  steer  clear,  in  the  printing 
business,  of  lampoons  and  libels. 

Thus  thwarted,  Ben  determined  to  return  to  Phila- 
delphia, which  he  accordingly  did,  but  not  before  he 
visited  Brother  James.  Brother  James  was  in  a  bad 
humour.  Brother  Ben  behaved  with  gross  want  of 
tact,  and  the  meeting  proved  a  failure.  On  his 
journey  back  the  sloop  which  was  carrying  the 
youngster  touched  at  Newport.  This  gave  him  an 
opportunity  to  visit  another  brother,  John,  who  had 
married  and  settled  there,  and  to  receive  from  him, 
unluckily  enough,  an  order  to  collect  in  Pennsyl- 
vania a  sum  of  thirty-five  pounds  currency  due  a 
Mr.  Vernon,  one  of  John's  friends.     From  Newport 


1727]       The  "  Father  of  the  Man  "  23 

Ben  sailed  for  New  York.  He  was  disposed  to  be  a 
trifle  wild  on  board  the  sloop,  got  in  return  a  good 
moral  lecture  from  a  Quaker  passenger,  and  finally 
reached  the  island  of  Manhattan,  to  find  awaiting 
him  his  companion  of  former  days,  John  Collins, 
who  had  left  Boston  intending  to  make  Philadelphia 
his  home.  While  lingering  for  Franklin  in  New 
York,  Collins  spent  his  time  in  riotous  living,  so  that 
the  remainder  of  his  journey  had  to  be  paid  for  by 
his  friend.  This  circumstance  finally  tempted  Ben, 
before  reaching  Philadelphia,  to  appropriate  for  their 
necessities  some  of  the  money  now  collected  for  the 
confiding  Vernon — "  one  of  the  first  great  errata 
of  my  life."  It  was  an  erratum  that  cost  him  many 
a  bad  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  shows  us  that  the 
young  man  had  not  yet  acquired  the  moral  firmness 
for  which  he  was  afterward  distinguished.  In  time, 
Vernon  was  repaid,  but  Franklin  never  quite  forgave 
himself  for  the  weakness. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  wildness  of  Collins,  who 
suddenly  degenerated  from  a  sober,  clever  Puritan 
into  a  drunken  Bohemian,  the  short  stay  in  New 
York  would  have  been  a  very  agreeable  one  for 
Franklin,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  he  again 
attracted  the  attention  of  a  governor.  This  one  was 
Governor  Burnet  (son  of  the  famous  Bishop),  and 
the  two  discussed  books  with  avidity.  The  other 
traveller  was  not  in  a  state  to  visit  his  Excellency, 
and  it  was  fortunate  that  the  young  fellow  soon 
dropped  out  of  Franklin's  life  forever.  On  reaching 
Philadelphia  he  continued  to  be  a  drag  upon  his 
companion,  borrowing  from  the  Vernon  money,  and 


24  Benjamin  Franklin  [>7o6- 

getting  day  by  day  more  sottish  and  repellent. 
Finally  Franklin  rebelled,  and  the  intimacy  ended. 
Collins  soon  went  away  to  the  Barbadoes  to  become 
a  tutor  (poor  pupils!),  and  nothing  more  was  heard 
of  him  or  the  money  he  owed. 

Sir  William  Keith  had,  in  the  interval,  welcomed 
Franklin  back  with  open  arms,  and  now  he  himself 
proposed  to  furnish  the  money  to  set  the  printer 
up  in  business.  Everything  was  nicely  arranged  ; 
Franklin,  in  the  course  of  several  months,  should 
sail  for  England,  there  to  choose  the  stock  required 
to  fit  out  the  proposed  printing-house.  In  the 
meanwhile,  he  was  to  work  with  Keimer,  being  care- 
ful, however,  to  say  nothing  of  Sir  William's  project. 
Accordingly,  the  unsuspecting  compositor  continued 
to  labour  with  the  unsuspecting  master,  the  two  of 
them  arguing  abstruse  points  a  la  Socrates,  discuss- 
ing the  feasibility  of  forming  a  new  religious  sect, 
trying  a  vegetarian  diet,  and  indiscriminately  in- 
dulging in  the  most  congenial  "  isms  "  and  peculiar- 
ities. Ben,  although  so  practical  in  many  ways, 
might  have  become  the  most  hopeless  of  theorists, 
not  to  say  a  charlatan,  had  not  the  hard  knocks  of 
the  world  rubbed  off  the  crotchets  of  his  nature  and 
dispelled  his  curious  castles  in  the  air.  In  addition  to 
these  occupations,  he  made  love  to  Miss  Read  (whom 
it  was  understood  he  should  marry  on  his  return  from 
London),  and  took  many  a  delightful  stroll  along  the 
banks  of  the  Schuylkill  with  four  companions  of  con- 
genial taste.  Among  them  was  James  Ralph,  a  poet 
in  embryo,  who  was  to  be  honoured  by  the  great 
Mr.  Pope  with  a  savage  sling  in  the  Dunciad, 


'7^7]        The  "  Father  of  the  Man  "  25 

During  all  this  time,  Keith  kept  up  his  show  of 
cordiality  toward  Franklin,  talked  enthusiastically 
about  the  letters  of  introduction  and  credit  that  he 
intended  to  give  him,  and  never  for  one  moment 
hinted  that  there  would  or  could  be  the  slightest 
hitch  in  the  arrangements.  When  the  ship  for 
which  he  waited  was  about  to  sail,  the  protege 
sought  out  his  benefactor  for  the  promised  docu- 
ments. The  Governor's  Secretary  explained  that  Sir 
William  was  just  then  very  busy,  but  would  arrive  at 
New  Castle  before  the  vessel  touched  there  upon  her 
way  down  the  Delaware.  This  seemed  plausible 
enough,  and  Franklin,  accompanied  by  Ralph,  who 
had  vague  yearnings  for  London  poetic  triumphs, 
confidingly  boarded  the  packet.  Upon  reaching 
New  Castle,  he  found  that  the  Governor  was  there, 
but  again  the  Secretary  made  excuses.  His  master 
was  "  engaged  in  business  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance," but  would  send  the  letters  to  the  ship,  hoped 
his  friend  would  have  a  good  voyage,  make  a  speedy 
return,  and  expressed  the  customary  polite  ct 
ccEtcras.  All  this  was  very  comforting,  but  the 
letters  were  never  delivered.  The  Governor,  who 
loved  to  be  popular  with  everybody,  had  the  crime 
of  insincerity,  which  so  often  accompanies  such  a 
disposition.  While  he  had  taken  pains  to  win  the 
affections  and  confidence  of  the  printer,  he  went  no 
further.  His  promises  were  broken;  he  had  plaved 
the  poltroon  ;  with  deceit  in  his  heart  and  lies  upon 
his  lips  he  had  sent  his  victim  across  the  ocean  on 
an  errand  worse  than  fruitless. 

There  were  six  or  seven  letters  in  the  ship's  mail- 


26  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

bag  which  Franklin  tliought  might  be  the  desired 
ones.  One  of  them  was  directed  to  Basket,  the 
King's  Printer,  and  another  to  a  stationer.  It  was 
Christmas  eve  (1724),  when  FrankHn  reached  Lon- 
don, and  he  repaired  at  once  to  the  stationer,  to 
whom  he  presented  what  he  supposed  to  be  a  note 
from  Sir  William  Keith.  "  I  don't  know  such  a 
person,"  said  the  tradesman  ;  but,  opening  the  letter, 
he  exclaimed:  "  Oh!  this  is  from  Riddlesden.*  I 
have  lately  found  him  to  be  a  complete  rascal,  and 
I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  nor  receive  any 
letters  from  him."  With  that,  Mr.  Stationer  turns 
on  his  heel,  and  Franklin's  castle  in  the  air — a  castle 
made  up  of  an  elegant  press,  fine  type,  and  what  not 
— falls  to  the  ground.  None  of  the  letters  were  in- 
tended for  him.  A  joyous  Christmas  eve  for  the 
young  colonist!  "  What  shall  we  think,"  wrote 
the  victim  many  years  later,  when  the  bitterness  of 
the  awakening  was  still  fresh  in  his  memory,  "  of  a 
governor's  playing  such  pitiful  tricks,  and  imposing 
so  grossly  on  a  poor,  ignorant  boy!  It  was  a  habit 
he  had  acquired.  He  wished  to  please  everybody; 
and,  having  little  to  give,  he  gave  expectations." 

To  work! — that  was  the  only  thing  to  be  done; 
the  stranger's  purse  was  scant,  and  the  ambitious 
Ralph  was  actually  penniless.  So  the  two  secured 
lodgings  in  Little  Britain  for  the  princely  rate  of 
three  shillings  and  sixpence  a  week,  and  while  the 
poet  first  tried  to  go  on  the  stage  and  then  to  start 


*  Riddlesden  was  a  Philadelphia  attorney  who  is  characterised  in 
the  Autobiography  as  "  a  very  knave."  He  was  a  friend  of  Keith's, 
a  fact  which  did  not  prejudice  Franklin  in  his  favour, 


'727]       The  "  Father  of  the  Man  "  27 

a  paper  "  like  the  Spectator,''  the  more  practical 
Benjamin  obtained  a  place  in  Palmer's  printin<j- 
hoLise.  In  the  evenings,  the  two  companions  went 
to  the  play,  where  they  doubtless  admired  the  dash- 
ing impersonations  of  Wilkes,  the  eccentricities  of 
Gibber,  and  the  charms  of  the  sprightly  Oldfield. 
From  this  enjoyment  Franklin  acquired  his  pro- 
nounced taste  for  the  drama.  Later  in  his  varied 
career,  the  humble  theatre-goer  would  go  to  the 
play  in  more  pomp  than  that  vouchsafed  by  a  seat 
among  the  apprentices,  and  would  be  honoured  by 
the  acquaintance  of  Garrick,  now,  in  this  winter  of 
1725,  an  unknown  boy  of  nine. 

As  for  Ralph,  he  proceeded  to  forget  the  wife  and 
child  he  had  left  in  America.  Ben,  hardly  more 
constant,  gradually  grew  cold  in  his  affection  for  the 
absent  Deborah  Read,  to  whom,  let  it  be  said  in 
shame,  he  wrote  one  letter  telling  her  he  was  "  not 
likely  soon  to  return."  Another  of  "  the  great 
errata  "  of  his  life,  albeit  one  for  which  he  subse- 
quently sought  to  atone.  In  fine,  his  first  London 
visit  must  have  awakened  in  him  a  curious  jumble 
of  good  and  bad  instincts — industry,  frugality,  and 
a  desire  for  mental  improvement  on  the  one  hand, 
and  occasional  exhibitions  of  meanness,  forgetful- 
ness  of  his  Jianeee,  and  one  disagreeable  piece  of 
dishonourable  conduct  on  the  other  hand.  The  dis- 
honourable conduct  need  not  be  dwelt  upon  here; 
everyone  who  reads  the  AutobiograpJiy,  where  the 
author  frankly  puts  it  down  as  another  erratum,  re- 
members it,  and  the  vision  it  furnishes  is  not  allur- 
ing.    Suffice  it  to  say,  that  as  it  was  a  species  of 


28  Benjamin  Franklin  [^706- 

unfaithfulness  toward  Ralph  (who  did  not,  however, 
deserve  any  sympathy  in  the  matter),  the  friendship 
between  the  two  came  to  an  abrupt  end. 

At  Pahner's,  Franklin  was  employed  in  setting 
type  for  the  second  edition  of  Wollaston's  Religion 
of  Nature,  and,  not  agreeing  with  some  of  the 
author's  conclusions,  he  wrote  and  printed  a  contro- 
versial pamphlet  on  the  subject,  styling  it,  ponder- 
ously, A  Dissertation  on  Liberty  and  Neeessity, 
Pleasure  and  Pain.  An  audacious  proceeding,  to 
be  sure,  but  one  that  brought  the  lucky  pamphleteer 
to  the  attention  of  several  learned  men  and  thus 
helped  to  make  his  stay  in  London  the  more  con- 
genial. Then  he  went  to  work  at  Watts's,  a  print- 
ing-house more  important  than  Palmer's,  and  was 
much  impressed  with  the  amount  of  beer  drunk  by 
his  companions.  He  persuaded  many  of  the  latter 
to  give  up  that  beverage,  substituting  therefor  a 
porringer  of  hot-water  gruel,  seasoned  with  pepper, 
bread  and  butter — a  pretty  temperance  lesson,  were 
it  not  that  he  stood  credit  for  the  beer  of  less  provi- 
dent printers  and  closely  watched  the  pay-table  on 
Saturday  nights,  to  collect  the  money  due  him.  A 
strange  mixture  of  philanthropy  and — what  shall  we 
call  it  ? — usury.  Possibly,  he  charged  no  commis- 
sion for  this  service  to  the  thirsty,  although,  even 
then,  the  idea  of  his  preaching  against  beer  and,  at 
the  same  time,  helping  men  to  get  it,  is  paradoxical 
to  the  verge  of  absurdity.  That  Franklin  was  care- 
ful about  his  pennies  during  this  season  is,  at  least, 
fully  apparent,  and  it  need  hardly  be  added  that  he 
was  not  always  in  a  position  to  be  otherwise,  partic- 


I 


1727]        The  •' Father  of  the  Man  "  29 

ularly  as  he  had  lent  twenty-seven  pounds,  in  all,  to 
Ralph  before  his  break  with  the  latter.  When  he 
changed  his  lodgings  from  Little  Britain  to  Duke 
Street,  he  bargained  with  his  new  hostess,  a  widow 
of  genteel  bearing,  to  take  him  for  the  same  money, 
three  shillings  and  sixpence  a  week.  This  she 
agreed  to  do,  but  when  the  new  boarder  heard  that 
he  could  get  cheaper  rates  elsewhere,  he  thought  of 
changing  his  quarters,  agreeable  as  they  were.  The 
landlady  capitulated  at  once. 

"  She  was  lame  in  her  knees  vvilh  the  gout,  and,  therefore,  seldom 
stirred  out  of  her  room,  so  sometimes  wanted  company  ;  and  hers 
was  so  highly  amusing  to  me,  that  I  was  sure  to  spend  an  evening 
with  her  whenever  she  desired  it.  Our  supper  was  only  half  an 
anchovy  each,  on  a  very  little  strip  of  bread  and  butter,  and  half  a 
pint  of  ale  between  us  ;  but  the  entertainment  was  in  her  conversa- 
tion. My  always  keejiing  good  hours,  and  giving  little  trouble  in  the 
family,  made  her  unwilling  to  part  with  me." 

If  we  read  further  into  the  first  London  visit  of 
the  young  American,  we  find  that  an  aquatic  feat  of 
which  he  was  the  hero  came  near  changing,  in  all 
probability,  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life.  He  swam 
from  near  Chelsea  to  Black  Friars,  a  stretch  of  four 
miles,  performing  on  the  way  many  wondrous  evo- 
lutions, upon  and  under  the  water,  much  to  the 
delight  of  several  admiring  friends.  One  of  these 
grew  so  attached  to  the  swimmer,  partly  as  a  re- 
sult of  this  prowess,  that  he  proposed  to  travel 
all  over  Europe  with  Franklin,  working  at  the 
printer's  trade  along  the  route.  Had  Ben  acted 
upon  this  suggestion,  as  he  was  tempted  to  do, 
he  might   have  ended,   Fate  only   knows  where — 


30  Benjamin  Franklin  [1706- 

perhaps  as  Grand  Vizier  for  an  Eastern  potentate, 
or  anything  else,  ranging  from  an  autocrat  to  a  ped- 
dler. It  was  a  crucial  period  with  the  youth,  a 
period  of  transition,  and  his  future  seemed  as  in- 
scrutable as  a  Chinese  puzzle.  However,  he  did  not 
foot  it  through  the  Continent,  owing  to  the  advice 
of  Mr.  Denham,  a  Philadelphia  merchant  then  in 
London  (the  two  had  come  over  in  the  same  ship), 
who  offered  him  a  clerical  position  in  a  store  which 
he  was  to  open  upon  his  return  home.  Franklin 
decided  to  accept  the  situation  and  go  back  to  his 
good  friends  the  Quakers.  He  regretted  a  little 
later  that  he  could  not  stay  in  England  to  open  a 
swimming  school^think  of  him  as  proprietor  of  a 
natatorium! — and  finally  set  sail  with  honest  Mr. 
Denham  in  the  July  of  1726.  As  it  was  not  until 
near  the  middle  of  October  that  the  vessel  reached 
Philadelphia,  the  trip  was  a  wearisome  one,  and 
Franklin  wisely  helped  to  pass  the  time  by  keeping 
a  diary  and  drawing  up  a  plan  for  the  guidance  of 
his  future  conduct.  For  the  matter  of  that,  the 
hours  could  never  hang  heavily  upon  him ;  he  was 
a  man  of  infinite  resources  and  possessed  in  a  high 
degree  the  art  of  interesting  himself  in  many  things 
and  under  all  circumstances.  Unlike  a  certain  un- 
fortunate type  of  nineteenth-century  humanity,  he 
was  never  "  bored."  His  mind  was  an  active, 
healthy  one,  ever  observing,  ever  working,  and  he 
could  see  more  in  a  day  than  do  many  persons  in 
the  course  of  years.  As  a  result  he  enjoyed  nearly 
every  moment  of  his  life;  even  sorrow  could  not 
deprive  him  for  any  great  length  of  time  of  his  zest 


1727]      The  "  Father  of  the  Man  "  31 

for  existence.  Thus  it  is  that  we  find  him  extract- 
ing pleasure  from  a  trip  which  to  the  globe-trotting 
men  and  women  of  to-day  would  appear  unutterably 
dreary,  and  securing  plenty  of  material  for  thought 
and  record. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  when  Franklin  got  back 
to  Philadelphia,  he  kept  his  eyes  open,  as  usual,  nor 
did  he  attempt  to  close  them  when  he  passed  on  the 
street  the  shamefaced  Keith,  now  no  longer  gover- 
nor. Perhaps  he  opened  them  even  wider  than  ever 
upon  learning  that,  as  the  result  of  his  own  defection, 
Deborah  Read  had  married  a  worthless  potter,  from 
whom  she  soon  separated  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  he  was  accused  of  bigamy.  Having  seen  these 
things  and  perceived  that  his  friend  Keimer  was  ap- 
parently on  the  high  road  to  prosperity,  Ben  set 
himself  hard  to  work  in  the  store  which  Mr.  Den- 
ham  now  opened  in  Water  Street.  To  become  a 
thrifty  merchant  was  the  palpable  destiny  of  the 
clerk.  But  there  were  to  be  many  surprises  in  his 
career,  many  changes  of  plan,  and  one  of  them  now 
occurred.  Denham  and  Franklin  were  both  taken 
ill,  the  former  dying  and  the  latter  slowly  recover- 
ing, somewhat  to  his  own  disappointment,  if  we  are 
to  believe  him.  "  I  suffered  a  good  deal  [he  had 
pleurisy],  gave  up  the  point  in  my  own  mind,  and 
was  rather  disappointed  when  I  found  myself  re- 
covering, regretting,  in  some  degree,  that  I  might 
now,  some  time  or  other,  have  all  that  disagreeable 
work  to  do  over  again."  One  fact  stared  coldly 
into  his  bright,  serene  face.  The  taking  away  of 
Denham  left  his  assistant,  like  Othello,  with  occupa- 


32  Benjamin  Franklin  [1727 

tion  gone,  and  with  all  those  prospects  of  future 
wealth  vanished  into  air.  What  should  he  do  ? 
There  was  hardly  time  to  ask  the  question,  for 
Keimer  came  forward  with  a  proposition  that  the 
management  of  his  new  printing-shop  should  be 
taken  by  his  former  employe.  Call  it  a  piece  of  rare 
luck,  if  you  will,  but  reflect  that  the  offer  was  made 
to  one  who  by  his  business  sense  and  his  skill  as  a 
printer  well  deserved  it. 

Here  we  have  Franklin  at  twenty-one.  He  has 
travelled  not  a  little,  thought  much,  read  much, 
written  much,  worked  incessantly,  sinned  too,  and 
so  stands  forth  a  puzzling  figure.  Mixed  in  with 
shining  gold  is  a  vein  of  baser  metal.  Is  the  gold 
to  triumph  ?  There  is  hope  that  it  may,  for  deep 
in  the  printer's  soul  are  energy  of  character  and 
strength  of  purpose.  These  are  virtues  which  he 
has  in  common  with  so  niany  natives  of  distant  New 
England,  and  they  must  have  an  important  influence 
upon  him.  The  Puritan  spirit  of  self-reliance  must 
make  itself  felt  in  him,  just  as  in  years  to  come  it 
will  put  so  deep  an  impress  upon  the  patriotism  of 
the  Revolution. 


i 


CHAPTER  II 


AN   EDITOR   OF   THE   OLD    SCHOOL 


1 728-1 740 


HOSE  cordial  relations  which  some 
times  exist  between  master  and  man, 
even  outside  of  Utopia,  had  no  place 
in  the  connection  now  established  be- 
tween the  half-knavish  Keimer  and 
the  observant  Franklin.  Keimer  wished  to  have 
his  crude  printers  whipped  into  shape,  as  it  were,  by 
the  new  foreman,  whom  he  then  intended  to  dis- 
miss, and  the  latter  was  shrewd  enough  to  fathom 
the  whole  plot.  The  days  wore  on,  Franklin  working 
philosophically  and  efficiently,  and  the  little  drama 
began  to  develop  just  as  was  expected.  Keimer 
hinted  that  a  reduction  of  Franklin's  wages  would  be 
in  order,  "  grew  by  degrees  less  civil,  put  on  more 
of  the  master,  frequently  found  fault,  was  captious, 
and  seemed  ready  for  an  outbreaking."  The  crisis 
came  soon  enough. 

There  was  a  great  noise  in  the  street  one  day,  and 
Franklin  put  his  head  out  of  a  window  of  the  print- 
ing-office to  find  out  the  cause  of  the  outcry,  when, 
^  33 


34  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

prcsto!  Keimer  called  up  to  him,  in  angry  tones,  to 
mind  his  business."  This  may  have  been  enter- 
taining for  the  listening  neighbours,  but  it  proved 
exasperating  to  the  rebuked  printer,  particularly  as 
Keimer  came  up  into  the  room,  and  continued  the 
quarrel. 

"  High  words  passed  on  both  sides  ;  he  gave  me  the  quarter's 
warning  we  had  stipulated,  expressing  a  wish  that  he  had  not  been 
obliged  to  so  long  a  warning.  I  told  him  his  wish  was  unnecessary, 
for  I  would  leave  him  that  instant ;  and  so,  taking  my  hat,  walked 
out  of  doors,  desiring  Meredith,  whom  I  saw  below,  to  take  care  of 
some  things  I  left,  and  bring  them  to  my  lodgings," 

It  was  a  row  with  a  capital  R,  and  we  can  picture 
the  stupid  apprentices  looking  on  open-mouthed 
while  Ben  bounced  out  of  the  place  with  disgust  on 
his  face  and  anger  in  his  usually  placid  heart.  Our 
sympathies  irresistibly  go  with  him.  Yet  this  was 
the  man  who  would  come  to  have  such  a  fine  control 
over  his  temper  that  he  could  stand  unmoved  while 
an  English  enemy  loaded  him  with  insults. 

The  Meredith  spoken  of  was  one  of  Keimer's 
journeymen,  between  whom  and  his  foreman  a  con- 
siderable intimacy  existed.  He  was  a  nice,  honest 
fellow,  but  trifled  too  much  with  the  flowing  bowl. 
On  the  evening  succeeding  the  "  outbreaking"  he 
went  to  see  his  friend  at  the  latter's  lodgings,  and 
it  was  well  he  did.  By  this  time  the  indignant 
Franklin  had  made  up  his  mind  to  return  to  Bos- 
ton, where,  for  aught  we  know,  he  might  have 
degenerated  into  a  commonplace  soap-boiler,  and 
so,  practically,  buried  himself.  Meredith  suggested 
that  when  the  spring  (of  1728)  came,  and  his  own 


I740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       35 

time  with  Keimer  had  expired,  he  would  form  a 
partnership  with  Frankhn,  into  which  the  New 
Englander  was  to  bring  the  skill,  and  Meredith's 
father  the  money  needed  for  presses  and  types. 
The  offer  was  accepted  ;  the  elder  Meredith  ap- 
proved of  the  scheme,  hoping  above  all  things 
that  his  son  would  be  kept  too  busy  to  think  of  his 
cups.  It  was  agreed  that  Franklin  should  try  to 
continue  in  other  employment  until  the  release  of 
his  partner.  That  employment,  strange  to  tell,  was 
obtained  with  Keimer,  who  was  anxious  to  have  the 
assistance  of  his  former  manager  in  the  printing  of 
an  issue  of  paper  money  for  the  province  of  New 
Jersey.  Forthwith,  Franklin  journeyed  to  Burling- 
ton, where  he  contrived  a  copper-plate  press  for  the 
execution  of  the  bills.  He  was  made  much  of  by 
some  of  the  townspeople,  who  liked  his  conversa- 
tion, and  he  was  not  grieved,  possibly,  because 
Keimer  met  with  a  less  cordial  reception.  "  In 
truth,"  he  writes  complacently,  "  he  was  an  odd 
fish,  ignorant  of  common  life,  fond  of  rudely  oppos- 
ing received  opinions,  slovenly  to  extreme  dirtiness, 
enthusiastic  in  some  points  of  religion,  and  a  little 
knavish  withal."  The  Keimer  type  is  not  yet  ex- 
tinguished. 

When  the  spring  arrived,  the  firm  of  Franklin  and 
Meredith  began  life,  not  in  an  elegantly  appointed 
structure  such  as  we  would  look  for  to-day,  but  in  a 
little  house  on  Market  Street,  in  which,  to  lessen 
the  rental  of  twenty-four  pounds  a  year,  a  glazier 
named  Thomas  Godfrey  and  his  family  were  given 
room.     It  was  a  risky  experiment,  this  starting  of  a 


36  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

printing-house  when  there  were  two  rivals  in  the 
field  (Keimer  and  Bradford),  The  wise  merchants 
who  used  to  assemble  at  the  "  Every  Night  Club  " 
predicted  its  failure.  All  of  them  did,  at  least,  ex- 
cepting a  canny  Scotchman  who  spoke  up  one 
evening  in  defence  of  the  new  firm.  "  For  the  in- 
dustry of  that  Franklin,"  said  he,  "  is  superior  to 
anything  I  ever  saw  of  the  kind ;  I  see  him  still  at 
work  when  I  go  home  from  club,  and  he  is  at  work 
again  before  his  neighbours  are  out  of  bed." 

Soon  there  was  business  for  the  firm,  despite  the 
croaking.  Meredith  worked  in  a  miserable,  half- 
sober  way  (the  Autobiography  deals  neither  so  gently 
or  charitably  as  we  could  wish  with  his  imperfec- 
tions), and  Franklin  naturally  proved  the  better 
partner.  A  hard  life  he  must  have  led,  but  he 
always  loved  work,  and  by  way  of  recreation,  he 
could  look  forward  to  those  intellectual  Friday  even- 
ings devoted  to  the  "  Junto."  This  Junto  was  the 
most  cherished  offspring  of  Ben's  mental  activity, 
and  may  be  considered  as  the  forerunner  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society.  It  was  a  debating 
club  wherein  morals,  politics,  and  natural  philosophy 
were  discussed  with  the  earnestness  and  dignity  that 
one  might  have  expected  from  the  Senators  of  an- 
cient Rome.  To  join  this  imposing  club  the  would- 
be  member  had  to  answer,  with  his  hand  upon  his 
breast,  the  following  formidable  questions: 

"  Have  you  any  particular  disrespect  to  any  present  member? 
AnsTver  :  I  have  not. 

"  Do  you  sincerely  declare  that  you  love  mankind  in  general,  of 
what  profession  or  religion  soever?     Answer  :  I  do. 


•74o]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School 


0/ 


"  Do  you  think  any  person  ought  to  be  harmed  in  his  body,  name, 
or  goods,  for  mere  speculative  opinions,  or  his  external  way  of  wor- 
ship?    Answer:  No. 

"  Do  you  love  truth  for  truth's  sake,  and  will  you  endeavour  impar- 
tially to  find  and  receive  it  yourself,  and  communicate  it  to  others  ? 
Ans2ver :  Yes." 

The  man  who  could  answer  such  questions  in  such 
a  way,  and  do  it  without  an  atom  of  perjury,  must 
have  been  a  paragon  of  Hberal-mindedness.  Yet 
there  was  a  quiet  toleration  among  Philadelphians 
that  made  the  carrying  out  of  this  gentle  creed  less 
impossible  than  it  might  at  first  seem.  It  was  an 
indirect  illustration  of  the  Quaker  spirit  of  non- 
resistance.  Franklin,  while  neither  a  Friend  nor  a 
follower  of  the  non-combative  theory,  sympathised 
with  the  Quaker's  policy,  "  to  live  and  let  live." 
He  had  no  love  for  inquisitorial  delving  into  the 
spiritual  beliefs  of  his  neighbours.  His  own  belief, 
be  it  noted,  has  now  changed  from  a  species  of 
atheism  to  a  reverence  for  a  Supreme  Being.  He 
was  a  Deist  with  a  liturgy  of  his  own  making. 

At  this  time,  although  Franklin  was  amusing  him- 
self with  the  abstract  discussions  of  the  Junto,  he 
was  also  revolving  in  his  mind  a  journalistic  scheme. 
Pennsylvania  had  but  one  newspaper,  a  stupid  sheet 
published  in  Philadelphia  by  the  rival  Bradford. 
Why  should  not  the  firm  of  Franklin  and  Meredith 
start  one  of  their  own  ?  The  idea  was  a  good  one, 
and  Ben  was  foolish  enough  to  mention  it  to  a 
friend,  who  in  turn  immediately  spoke  of  it  to 
Keimer.  The  latter  thouglit  so  well  of  the  plan 
that  he  appropriated  it,  and  soon  issued  (December, 


38  Benjamin  Franklin  [172^- 

1728)  the  first  number  of  the  pompously  titled  Uni- 
versal Instructor  in  all  Arts  and  Sciences  and  Penn- 
sylvania Gazette.  Exacting  critics  who  occasionally 
complain  that  the  modern  newspaper  has  too  much 
current  comment  and  too  little  solid  information, 
might  find  the  type  of  literature  they  desire  in  the  In- 
structor, as  published  during  Keimer's  regime,  for 
this  wide-awake  sheet  contained,  as  a  sort  of  alpha- 
betical series,  instalments  of  a  standard  "  Dictionary 
of  the  Arts  and  Sciences."  The  learning  was  doled 
out  in  mechanical  fashion,  but  there  it  was,  never- 
theless. 

Franklin  waxed  wroth  on  the  appearance  of  the 
Instructor,  but  did  not  lose  his  levelness  of  head. 
How  was  he  to  conduct  a  warfare  against  the  paper  ? 
By  bolstering  up  its  wearisome  rival,  Bradford's  Mer- 
cury. So  for  this  purpose  he  wrote  for  the  latter  a 
series  of  sprightly  essays — "  The  Busybody,"  they 
were  dubbed — wherein  a  few  faults  and  vanities  of  the 
time  were  touched  upon  in  a  vein  not  unworthy  of 
Addison.  What  more  pleasantly  suggestive  of  the 
satiric  humour  of  the  Spectator  than  the  announce- 
ment of  the  first  essay,  wherein  the  "  Busybody  " 
predicts  that  he  may  displease  a  great  number  of  the 
readers,  "  who  will  not  very  well  like  to  pay  ten  shill- 
ings a  year  for  being  told  of  their  faults. "  .  .  .  But, 
he  goes  on  to  say,  "  as  most  people  delight  in  cen- 
sure when  they  themselves  are  not  the  object  of  it, 
if  any  are  offended  at  my  publicly  exposing  their 
private  vices,  I  promise  they  shall  have  the  satisfac- 
tion, in  a  very  little  time,  of  seeing  their  good  friends 
and  neighbours  in  the  same  circumstances." 


1740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       39 

The   "Busybody"   made    what    would    now  be 
graphically  styled   a  sensation.     It  contributed  to 
the  local  reputation  of  the  writer  and  involved  him  in 
a  controversy  with  Kcimer.     Keimer  lost  his  temper ; 
the  rival  remained  tranquil.     Next  Franklin  handed 
over  the  writing  of  the  "  Busybody  "  to  a  friend, 
and   plunged   into  the  somewhat  different  field  of 
work  provided  by  the  money  question,  then  playing 
an    important    part    in    Pennsylvania.     Coin    was 
scarce  in  the  province,  there  was  among  the  poorer 
classes  a  cry  for  a  new  issue  of  paper  currency,  and 
yet  the  English  Government  was  resolved  to  nega- 
tive any  acts  which  might  be  passed  by  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly  to    supply  the  want.     Just  when 
the  controversy  was  at  its  height  (the  proposed  issue 
being  opposed  as  fiercely  in  some  quarters  as  it  was 
favoured  in  others),  Franklin  jumped  into  the  breach 
by  writing  a  pamphlet  entitled  A  Modest  Enquiry 
into  the  Nature  anel  Necessity  of  a  Paper  Currency. 
It  was  a  strenuous  plea  for  paper;  it  contained  argu- 
ments which  read  to-day  like  wild  financial  heresies ; 
it  carried  victory  into  the  camp  of  the  inflationists. 
Despite  the  warnings  of  the  English  Lords  of  Trade, 
thirty  thousand  pounds  worth  of  new  paper  money 
was  issued.     The  writer  of  the  Modest  Enquiry  got 
the  contract  for  printing  it !     To  the  victor  belonged 
the  spoils.      Possibly  in  this  instance  the  victor  made 
a  better  showing  as  a  printer  than    as    a    political 
economist. 

Now  began  Franklin's  editorial  career.  Keimer 
was  financially  ruined,  as  his  former  employe  had 
foreseen,  by  his  poorness  of  character  and  want  of 


40  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

business  capacity.  He  was  very  glad  to  sell  his 
Instructor,  with  its  ninety  subscribers,  to  the  hated 
house  of  Franklin  and  Meredith.  This  he  did  in  the 
autumn  of  1729.  Then  he  was  compelled  to  go  off 
to  Barbadoes,  after  having  had  the  misfortune,  as  he 
expressed  it,  "  to  be  three  times  ruined  as  a  master 
printer,  to  be  nine  times  in  prison  "  (once  was  six 
years  together),  "  and  often  reduced  to  the  most 
wretched  circumstances,"  besides  being  "  hunted  as 
a  partridge  upon  the  mountains."  tie  was,  how- 
ever, a  partridge  who  had  plucked  himself.  No 
sooner  did  he  dispose  of  the  paper  than  Franklin 
dropped  its  awkward  title,  using  the  simple  name  of 
Pennsylvania  Gazette,  and  dropping,  too,  the  ridicu- 
lous extracts  from  the  dictionary  on  arts  and  sciences. 
He  made  many  welcome  changes  in  the  literary  and 
typographical  features.*  He  issued,  with  his  initial 
number,  a  lengthy  announcement  or  prospectus,  in 
which,  among  other  things,  he  sought  timely  con- 
tributions from  the  readers.  "  We  ask  assistance," 
he  writes,  "  because  we  are  fully  sensible,  that  to 
publish  a  good  newspaper  is  not  so  easy  an  under- 
taking as  many  people  imagine  it  to  be."  He 
practically  confesses  that  he  is  not  the  ideal  editor, 
for  he  points  out  (perhaps  humourously)  that  "  the 
author  of  a  gazette  (in  the  opinion  of  the  learned) 
ought  to  be  qualified  with  an  extensive  acquaintance 
with  languages,  a  great  easiness  and  command  of 
writing  and  relating  things  clearly  and  intelligibly, 
and  in  few  words;  he  should  be  able  to  speak  of 

*  The  first  number  of  the  Gazette,  under  the  ownership  of  Franklin 
and  Meredith,  appeared  October  2,  1729. 


M.T.CICERO'S 

CATO  MAJOR, 

OR     HIS 

DISCOURSE 

O  F 

OLD-AGE: 

With  Explanatory  NOTES. 


"♦>* 


PHILADELPHIA  I 

Printed  and  Sold   by  B.  FRANKLIlSr, 
MDCCXLIV, 

TITLE-PAGE  OF  CICERO'S   "  CATO  MAJOR." 

(one  Of  FRANKLIN'S   EARLIER  PUBLICATIONS.) 


I740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       41 

war,  both  by  land  and  sea;  be  well  acquainted  with 
geography,  with  the  history  of  the  time,  with  the 
several  interests  of  princes  and  States,  the  secrets  of 
Courts,  and  the  manners  and  customs  of  all  nations," 
He  admits  gravely  that  "  men  thus  accomplished 
are  very  rare  in  this  remote  part  of  the  world." 

To  glance  over  the  yellow,  clearly  printed  leaves 
of  the  Gazette,  as  carefully  preserved  in  the  Gilpin 
Library  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  is 
to  find  an  occupation  as  delightful  to  the  layman  as 
to  the  antiquarian.  Franklin's  first  number  (No. 
40)  is  in  itself  a  mine  of  interest,  from  the  prospec- 
tus on  the  first  to  the  advertisements  on  the  fourth 
page.  The  "  Foreign  Affairs,"  on  the  second  page, 
also  arrest  amused  attention  from  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  news  is  dated  as  far  back  as  April  (1729), 
although  the  number  was  published  in  October  of 
the  same  year.  Pass  on  to  the  later  issues  of  the 
Gazette,  and  it  is  seen  that  the  advertisements  (the 
editor  was  keenly  aware  of  their  commercial  value) 
gain  in  importance  and  quaintncss.  Here,  for  in- 
stance, we  have : 

"  A  servant  man's  Time  to  be  disposed  of  for  Three  Years  and 
Four  months  ;  he  is  by  trade  a  Currier,  and  a  perfect  master  of  all 
the  Branches  of  that  Business.  Enquire  at  the  new  Printing  office 
near  the  Market." 

Or  classics  like  these: 

"  French  is  Taught  at  Mr.  Cunningham's,  a  Barber,  next  Door  to 
Mrs.  Rogers  in  Market  .Street,  by  Daniel  Duborn." 

"A  Likely  Negro  Woman  to  be  sold  :  She  can  Wash  and  Iron 
very  well,  and  do  House-work." 


42  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

"  There  is  now  in  the  Press,  and  will  speedily  be  Published,  The 
Lady  Errant  Inchanted :  A  Poem  Dedicated  to  Her  most  Serene 
Highness  the  Princess  Magallia. 

"  .     .     .     Gorgons  hiss,  and  Dragons  glare, 
And  ten  horn'd  Fiends  and  Giants  rush  to  War  ; 
Hell  rises,  Heaven  descends,  and  dance  on  Earth, 
Gods,  Imps  and  Masters,  Musick,  Rage  and  Mirth  ; 
A  Fire,  a  Jig,  a  Battle  and  a  Ball." 

As  we  read  on,  Franklin  himself,  who  has  started 
a  little  shop  to  swell  the  profits  of  his  establishment, 
looms  up  as  an  advertiser, 

"Good  Writing  Parchment  sold  by  the  Printer  hereof,  very 
reasonable," 

is  one  of  his  announcements,  and  there  are  adver- 
tisements of  ink,  quills,  and  other  commodities,  such 
as 

"  Good  Live  Geese  Feathers,  sold  at  the  Printer's  hereof." 

It  might  be  supposed  that  the  mechanical  cares 
connected  with  the  paper,  and  the  publication  of 
books,  pamphlets,  etc.,  joined  to  the  carrying  on  of 
his  store,  would  leave  the  editor  little  time  for  much 
original  contribution.  Yet  such  was  his  mental  ac- 
tivity that  he  was  able  to  pen  many  an  article,  both 
serious  and  light  of  vein,  wherewith  to  hold  the  in- 
terest of  the  town  and  gain  new  subscribers.  One 
of  his  favourite  methods  of  enlivening  the  columns 
was  to  publish  letters  from  imaginary  correspondents, 
whose  remarks  were  far  better,  as  a  rule,  than  any- 
thing which  could  have  been  supplied  by  his  readers. 
If  the  public  would  not  accept  the  epistolary  invita- 
tion held  out  in  the  prospectus  he  would  himself 


t74o]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       43 

meet  the  deficiency.  The  ground  which  he  covered 
in  this  way  had  a  wide  scope,  and  ranged  from  the 
discussion  of  abstruse  questions  of  ethics  to  merry 
quips  and— on  one  occasion— a  very  adroit  dig  at 
the  slowness  of  his  rival,  the  Mercury,  in  securing 
news.  Certainly,  if  the  Mercury  was  slower  than 
the  Gazette  in  that  respect,  the  circumstance  de- 
manded satirical  mention.  Franklin,  however,  was 
too  polite  to  ridicule  Bradford's  paper  as  if  with 
intention.  No  ;  he  wrote  a  letter  to  himself  and 
published  it  as  follows:  * 

"  To  the  Printer  of  the  Gazette  : 

"  As  you  sometimes  take  upon  you  to  correct  the  Publick  [Frank- 
lin knew  how  to  play  the  Public  Censor  to  good  purpose],  you  ought 
in  your  Turn  patiently  to  receive  publick  Correction.  My  Quarrel 
against  you  is  your  Practice  of  publishing  under  the  Notion  of  News, 
old  Transactions  which  I  suppose  you  hope  we  have  forgot.  For  in- 
stance, in  your  Numb.  669  you  tell  us  from  London  of  July  20. 
That  the  Losses  of  our  Merchants  are  laid  before  the  Congress  of 
Soissons,  by  Mr.  Stanhope  &c.  and  that  Admiral  Ilopson  died  the 
8th  of  May  last.  Whereas  't  is  certain  there  has  been  no  Congress  at 
Soissons  nor  anywhere  else  these  three  Years  at  least,  nor  could  Ad- 
miral  Hopson  possibly  die  in  May  last,  unless  he  has  made  a  Resur- 
rection since  his  death  in  1728.  And  in  your  Numb.  670  among 
other  articles  of  equal  Antiquity  you  tell  us  a  long  story  of  a  Murder 
and  Robbery  perpetrated  on  the  Person  of  Mr.  Nath.  Bostock,  which 
I  have  read  word  for  word  not  less  than  four  years  since  in  your  own 
Paper.  Are  these  your  freshest  Advices  foreign  and  domestick?  I 
insist  that  you  insert  this  in  your  next,  and  let  us  see  how  you  justify 
yourself.  "  Memory." 

It  seemed  from  the  above  plaint  that  the  Gazette, 
rather  than  the  Mercury,  was  at  fault.     Read  the 

*  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  No.   206,  dated  November  2  to  9, 
1732. 


44  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

answer   of  the   editor,    printed    directly   under  the 
communication : 

"I  need  not  say  more  in  Vindication  of  myself  against  this 
Charge,  than  that  the  Letter  is  evidently  wrong  directed,  and  should 
have  been  To  the  Publisher  of  the  Mercury  :  Inasmuch  as  the  Num- 
ber of  my  Paper  is  not  yet  amounted  to  669,  nor  are  those  old  Arti- 
cles anywhere  to  be  found  in  the  Gazette,  but  in  the  Mercury  of  the 
two  last  weeks.  I  may  however  say  something  in  his  Excuse,  viz.  : 
That  'tis  not  to  be  always  expected  there  should  happen  just  a  full 
Sheet  of  New  Occurrences  for  each  vi^eek  ;  and  that  the  oftener  you 
are  told  a  good  thing  the  more  likely  you  will  be  to  remember  it.  I 
confess  I  once  lately  offended  in  this  kind  myself,  but  it  was  thro' 
Ignorance  ;  and  that  may  possibly  be  the  case  with  others." 

Whereat,  no  doubt,  Mr.  Bradford  winced.  The 
fling  at  his  shortcomings,  taken,  as  it  was,  in  this 
quietly  humorous  way,  was  far  more  telling  than 
would  have  been  a  whole  page  of  invective. 

If  the  Gazette  was  destined  to  make  its  weight  felt 
in  Philadelphia  and  throughout  the  province,  even 
greater  was  the  influence  to  be  wielded  by  the 
almanac  which  Franklin  began  publishing  about  the 
time  that  he  inserted  "  Memory's  "  communication. 
Poor  RicJiard,  with  its  proverbs,  its  verse,  and  the 
observations  of  Mr.  Richard  Saunders — otherwise 
Franklin — leaped  at  once  into  popularity,  and  was 
thereafter  bought,  quoted,  and  admired  for  many 
years.  It  was  in  Poor  Richard,  indeed,  that  we  see 
Franklin  in  his  most  striking  light  as  a  philosopher 
of  the  people — a  hard-headed,  practical  thinker,  an 
epigrammatic  moralist,  and  an  exploiter  or  adapter 
of  adages,  almost  any  one  of  which  might  have  made 
him  famous.  For  Mr.  Sat/ndcrs  had  a  terse  way  of 
telling  plain  truths,  and  while  his  sayings  were  not, 


I740]      An  PIditor  of  the  Old  School       45 

for  the  most  part,  exactly  original,  nearly  every  one 
of  them,  even  when  a  more  modern  settint^  to  an 
ancient  saw,  bore  the  hall-mark  of  Franklin's  genius 
for  apt  expression.  Though  the  gifted  Saimders  has 
long  since  gone  the  way  of  all  flesh,  one  still  recalls 
such  proverbs  as : 

"  Necessity  never  made  a  good  bargain." 

"  Diligence  is  the  mother  of  good  luck." 

"  An  old  young  man  will  be  a  young  old  man." 

"God  heals,  the  doctor  takes  the  fee." 

"  To  bear  other  people's  afflictions  everyone  has  courage  enough 
and  to  spare." 

"  Happy  that  nation,  fortunate  that  age  whose  history  is  not 
diverting." 

"  Wealth  is  not  his  that  has  it,  but  his  that  enjoys  it." 

"  Fish  and  visitors  smell  in  three  days." 

"  Forewarned,  forearmed." 

"  Here  comes  the  orator  with  his  flood  of  words  and  his  drop  of 
reason." 

"  Keep  thy  shop  and  thy  shop  will  keep  thee." 

"  Deny  self  for  self's  sake." 

"  Three  may  keep  a  secret,  if  two  of  them  are  dead." 

"  There  is  no  little  enemy." 

"  Love  well,  whip  well." 

"  Good  wives  and  good  plantations  are  made  by  good  husbands." 

"There  are  three  faithful  friends,  an  old  wife,  an  old  dog,  and 
ready  money." 

"  He  that  would  have  a  short  Lent,  let  him  borrow  money  to  be 
repaid  at  Easter." 

"  Keep  your  eyes  wide  open  before  marriage,  half  shut  afterward." 

"  Let  thy  discontents  be  thy  secrets." 

"  Let  no  pleasure  tempt  thee,  no  profit  allure  thee,  no  ambition 
corrupt  thee,  no  example  sway  thee,  no  persuasion  move  thee  to  do 
anything  which  thou  knowest  to  be  evil ;  so  shalt  thou  always  live 
joUily,  for  a  good  conscience  is  a  continual  Christmas." 

These  and  many  other  proverbs  became  household 
property,  and  the  fame  of  Poor  Richard,  which  grew 


46  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

with  the  years,  was  to  penetrate  more  than  one 
European  country  as  a  result  of  that  remarkable 
preface  which  Franklin  wrote  for  the  issue  of  1758. 
"  The  Way  to  Wealth  "  was  the  name  of  the  paper, 
and  it  sought  to  prove  that,  with  the  exercise  of 
more  economy,  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  could 
easily  pay  the  large  taxes  imposed  upon  them  as  a 
result  of  the  French  war. 

Mr.  Saunders  set  forth  his  ideas  of  frugality  by 
relating  the  supposed  harangue  of  "  Father  Abra- 
ham," an  old  man  who  pointed  the  moral  of  his 
remarks  by  numerous  quotations  ivon\  Poor  Richard, 
as,  for  instance: 

"  It  would  be  thought  a  hard  government  that  should  tax  its  people 
one-tenth  part  of  their  time,  to  be  employed  in  its  service,  but  idle- 
ness taxes  many  of  us  much  more  ;  sloth  by  bringing  on  diseases,  ab- 
solutely shortens  life.  Sloth,  like  rust,  consufnes  faster  than  labour 
wears,  ivhile  the  used  key  is  always  bright,  as  poor  Richard  says. 
But  dost  thou  love  life,  then  do  not  squander  time,  for  that  is  the 
stuff  life  is  7tiade  of  ,  as  Poor  Richard  says.  How  much  more  time 
than  is  necessary  do  we  spend  in  sleep,  forgetting  that  The  sleeping 
fox  catches  710  poultry ,  and  that  There  will  be  sleeping  enough  in  the 
grave,  as  Poor  Richard  says." 

Of  course  sentiments  inculcating  submission  to  tax- 
ation were  received  with  great  favour  in  Europe,  and 
the  speech  of  "  Father  Abraham  "  was  translated 
into   several   languages.     And    yet,  the  creator  of 

Father  Abraham  "  was  the  man  Avho  would  secure 
the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  imposed  upon  the  Amer- 
ican colonies  by  the  mother  country. 

But  we  are  running  on  too  fast.  Let  us  return  to 
the  time  when  the  Gazette  was  first  being  issued  by 


i74o]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       47 

Messieurs  Franklin  and  Meredith.  Business  com- 
plications arose,  and,  as  luck  would  have  it,  Mr. 
Vernon,  whose  money  Franklin  had  long  since  made 
over  to  the  now  vanished  Collins,  asked  for  what 
was  due  him.  "  I  wrote  him  an  ingenuous  letter  of 
acknowledgment,"  related  the  offender,  "  craved  his 
forbearance  a  little  longer,  which  he  allowed  me, 
and  as  soon  as  I  was  able,  I  paid  the  principal  with 
interest,  and  many  thanks;  so  that  erratum  was  in 
some  degree  corrected." 

But  there  was  a  more  pressing  difficulty.  The 
father  of  Meredith,  who  should  have  been  the  capi- 
talist of  the  new  printing  concern,  was  unable  to 
advance  more  than  one  hundred  pounds  currency. 
Another  hundred  pounds  was  needed  to  pay  a  mer- 
chant ;  it  was  not  forthcoming.  The  prospect  of  a 
lawsuit,  in  consequence,  confronted  the  partners, 
and  ruin  stared  them  ominously  in  the  face. 

"  In  this  distress  two  true  friends,  whose  kindness  I  have  never 
forgotten,  nor  ever  shall  forget  while  I  can  remember  anything,  came 
to  me  separately,  vmknown  to  each  other,  and  without  any  applica- 
tion from  me,  offering  each  of  them  to  advance  me  all  the  money 
that  should  be  necessary  to  enable  me  to  take  the  whole  business 
upon  myself,  if  that  should  be  practicable  ;  but  they  did  not  like  my 
continuing  the  partnership  with  Meredith,  who,  as  they  said,  was 
often  seen  drunk  in  the  streets,  and  playing  at  low  games  in  ale- 
houses, much  to  our  discredit." 

The  two  friends  were  William  Coleman  and  Robert 
Grace,  and  Franklin  told  them,  rightly  enough,  that 
he  could  not  propose  a  sepai'ation  while  any  prospect 
remained  of  the  Merediths  filling  their  part  of  the 
agreement.      If  this  prospect  was  not  realised,  then 


4^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

he  should  think  himself  at  liberty  to  accept  the 
proffered  generosity. 

The  bibulous  partner  soon  solved  any  doubts  on 
the  subject  by  acknowledging  that  his  father  was 
unable  to  advance  more  money. 

"  I  see,"  said  the  son  to  Franklin,  "  this  is  a  business  I  am  not  fit 
for.  I  was  bred  a  farmer,  and  it  was  folly  in  me  to  come  to  town, 
and  put  myself,  at  thirty  years  of  age,  an  apprentice  to  learn  a  new 
trade.  Many  of  our  Welsh  people  are  going  to  settle  in  North  Caro- 
lina where  land  is  cheap.  I  am  inclined  to  go  with  them  and  follow 
my  old  employment.  You  may  find  friends  to  assist  you.  If  you 
will  take  the  debts  of  the  company  upon  you  ;  return  to  my  father 
the  hundred  pounds  he  has  advanced  ;  pay  my  little  personal  debts, 
and  give  me  thirty  pounds  and  a  new  saddle,  I  will  relinquish  the 
partnership,  and  leave  the  whole  in  your  hands." 

Franklin  must  have  been  greatly  pleased  at  this 
amicable  proposition.  He  consented  to  it  at  once, 
borrowed  the  necessary  funds  from  the  two  friends, 
and  saw  Meredith  depart  for  North  Carolina. 

Life  now  went  on  more  calmly,  and  Franklin 
began  to  make  enough  profits  by  his  printing  enter- 
prises to  provide  for  the  gradual  payment  of  his  debt 
to  the  beneficent  Messrs.  Coleman  and  Grace.  He 
wisely  reasoned  that  it  was  quite  as  necessary,  in 
staid,  industry-loving  Philadelphia,  to  appear  to  be 
a  worker  as  it  was  to  be  one,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  such  an  impression  he  sometimes  indulged  in 
the  spectacular  occupation  of  wheeling  a  barrow 
through  the  streets.  Call  this  exhibition,  if  you 
will,  a  bit  of  affectation,  but  remember  that  the 
editor  of  the  Gazette  had  his  way  to  carve  in  the 
world,  and  do  not  blame  him   if   he  resorted   to  a 


i74o]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       49 

little  innocent  diplomacy,  lie  was  glad,  no  doubt, 
that  Bradford,  the  one  rixal  he  had  to  face,  was 
grown  rich  enough  to  be  careless  in  his  business, 
and  sorry,  too,  that  the  latter  happened  to  be  post- 
master. For,  under  the  primitive  rules  of  the  colony, 
the  postmaster  could  forbid  the  circulation  through 
his  mails  of  any  paper  but  his  own — a  privilege  of 
which  the  publisher  of  the  Mercury  availed  himself. 
So  it  was  only  by  feeing  the  post-riders  that  it  was 
possible  to  deliver  the  Gazette  to  its  subscribers. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  petty  tyrant  about  Frank- 
lin, and  when  it  should  come  his  turn  to  be  post- 
master of  the  town,  he  would  seek  to  put  an  end  to 
so  absurd  a  monopoly. 

At  this  period  the  glazier  Godfrey  and  his  family 
still  occupied  a  portion  of  the  printing-house  in 
which  the  bachelor  publisher  lived  and  worked,  and 
the  latter  was  soon  in  the  meshes  of  a  love-affair. 
It  was  one  without  much  romance,  for  Franklin  took 
too  practical  a  view  of  matrimony  to  be  classed  as  a 
Romeo.  Runaway  matches,  or  fervent  poems  to  his 
mistress's  eyebrow  were  not  for  one  who  had  been 
brought  up  in  the  hard  school  of  adversity.  There- 
fore, when  Mrs.  Godfrey  sought  to  arrange  a  mar- 
riage between  him  and  a  young  relative  of  hers, 
Franklin  let  it  be  known  that  he  would  expect  with 
the  girl  a  dowry  sufificient  to  pay  off  the  indebted- 
ness remaining  on  the  printing  establishment — say 
about  a  hundred  pounds.  The  parents  of  the  young 
woman  asserted  that  they  had  not  enough  money  to 
do  anything  of  the  kind.  The  swain  immediately 
suggested  that  they  might  mortgage  their  house— 


5<^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

an  advice  which  met  with  so  little  favour  that  they 
soon  withdrew  their  consent  to  this  very  cold- 
blooded courtship,  on  the  ground  that  Franklin's 
prospects  were  too  uncertain.  The  lover  (?)  sus- 
pected that  the  old  people  were  ready  to  wink  at  an 
elopement,  thus  leaving  them  under  no  obligation 
in  the  way  of  dowry,  but  he  chose  to  take  them  at 
their  word,  and  so  made  no  move  to  see  the 
daughter. 

The  affair  has  about  it  so  little  of  the  ardour  and 
disinterestedness  of  youth,  that  it  is  pleasant  to  turn 
from  it  to  a  scene  where  real  affection  shines  out 
agreeably,  if  placidly.  Deborah  Read,  otherwise 
Mrs.  Rogers,  was  the  heroine  of  the  episode.  She 
had  left  her  husband  upon  learning  that  he  was 
credited,  or  discredited,  with  having  another  wife. 
Rogers  then  ran  away  to  the  West  Indies,  whence 
came  later  the  report  of  his  death,  and  so  ended  an 
ill-starred  marriage.  But  the  truant  Franklin  was 
about  to  return  to  his  first  allegiance;  one  of  his 
errata  was  to  be  corrected.  Let  him  tell  the  story 
himself: 

"  A  friendly  correspondence  as  neighbours  and  old  acquaintances 
had  continued  between  me  and  Mrs.  Read's  family,  who  all  had  a 
regard  for  me  from  the  time  of  my  first  lodging  in  their  house.  I 
was  often  invited  there  and  consulted  in  their  affairs  wherein  I  was 
sometimes  of  service.  I  pitied  poor  Miss  Read's  unfortunate  situa- 
tion, who  was  generally  dejected,  seldom  cheerful,  and  avoided  com- 
pany. I  considered  my  giddiness  and  inconsistency  when  in  London 
as  in  a  great  degree  the  cause  of  herunhappiness,  tho'  the  mother  was 
good  enough  to  think  the  fault  more  her  own  than  mine,  as  she  had 
prevented  our  marrying  before  I  went  thither,  and  persuaded  the 
other  match  in  my  absence.     Our  mutual  affection  was  revived,  but 


I740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       51 

there  were  now  great  objections  to  our  union.  The  match  was  in- 
deed, looked  upon  as  invalid,  a  preceding  wife  being  said  to  be  living 
in  England  ;  but  this  could  not  easily  be  proved,  because  of  the  dis- 
tance ;  and  tho'  there  was  a  report  of  his  [Rogers's]  death,  it  was  not 
certain.  Then,  tho'  it  should  be  true,  he  had  left  many  debts,  which 
his  successor  might  be  called  upon  to  pay.  We  ventured,  however, 
over  all  these  difficulties,  and  I  took  her  to  wife,  September  ist, 
1730.  None  of  the  inconveniences  happened  that  we  had  appre- 
hended ;  she  proved  a  good  and  faithful  helpmate,  assisted  me  much 
by  attending  the  shop  ;  we  throve  together,  and  have  ever  mutually 
endeavoured  to  make  each  other  happy." 

Here,  then,  is  the  account  of  the  marriage  in 
FrankHn's  own  words,  and  it  is  far  better  to  take  it 
exactly  as  it  stands  than  to  wander  off  into  a  discus- 
sion as  to  the  vaHdity  of  the  union.  The  evidence 
in  the  matter  is  circumstantial,  rather  than  direct, 
but  it  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  ceremony  was 
legal.  It  was  a  happy  marriage,  as  all  the  world 
knows;  it  gave  to  Franklin  just  that  moral  poise  of 
which  he  stood  in  need,  and  made  of  him  a  good, 
if  not  exactly  an  ardent  husband.  In  years  to  come 
he  would  write  tenderly  of  his  wife : 

"  .     .     .     we  are  grown  old  together,  and  if  she  has  any  faults  I 
am  so  used  to  them  that  I  don't  perceive  them.     As  the  song  says  : 
"  '  Some  faults  we  have  all,  and  so  has  my  Joan, 
But  then  they  're  exceedingly  small ; 
And,  now  I  'm  grown  used  to  them,  so  like  my  own, 

I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  all. 
My  dear  friends, 

I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  all.'  "  * 

The  Joan  of  Franklin's  muse  seems  to  have  pos- 
sessed just  that  practical,  domestic  vein  so  essential 

*  Franklin  was  quoting  from  J/j-  Plain  Country  Joan,  a  song 
written  by  him  for  the  Junto. 


52  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

in  one  who  was  to  be  his  helpmeet.  FrankHn  with 
an  extravagant  wife  would  have  been  an  anomaly. 
As  he  himself  puts  it : 

"We  have  an  English  proverb  that  says,  ''He  that  ivould  thrive, 
must  ask  his  wife.'  It  was  lucky  for  me  that  I  had  one  as  much  dis- 
posed to  industry  and  frugality  as  myself.  She  assisted  me  cheer- 
fully in  my  business,  folding  and  stitching  pamphlets,  tending  shop, 
purchasing  old  linen  rags  for  the  paper-makers,  etc.,  etc.  We  kept 
no  idle  servants,  our  table  was  plain  and  simple,  our  furniture  of  the 
cheapest.  For  instance,  my  breakfast  was  a  long  time  bread  and 
milk  (no  tea)  and  I  ate  it  out  of  a  two-penny  earthen  porringer,  with 
a  pewter  spoon." 

Domestic  economy  was  not,  however,  the  only 
virtue  which  interested  the  fertile  brain  of  Frank- 
lin ;  he  also  sought  to  practise  what  might  be  termed 
moral  economy.  In  other  words,  he  conceived  "  the 
bold  and  arduous  project  of  arriving  at  moral  per- 
fection." The  idea  was  "  bold  and  arduous,"  with- 
out doubt,  and  it  need  hardly  be  added  that  there 
was  nothing  of  the  angel  about  the  man.  Although 
in  many  of  his  attributes  he  was  far  beyond  the 
average  of  humanity,  yet  he  sometimes  slipped  and 
fell  in  pursuing  the  right.  Still  he  thought  much  on 
the  subject,  and  drew  up  a  set  of  commandments 
which  helped  to  establish  in  him  that  wonderful 
self-control  which,  during  the  troubles  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary period,  was  to  be  exercised  so  effectively. 
Thirteen  virtues  were  comprised  in  the  list,  and  they 
were  duly  recorded  in  a  little  book  where  the  author's 
practice  or  neglect  of  each  might  be  registered  in 
black  and  white.  Even  in  matters  of  the  soul  was 
Franklin  methodical.  Originally  there  were  only 
twelve  virtues  in  the  book,   but  that  of   Humility 


I740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       53 

was  added  when  a  plain-spoken  Quaker  informed 
the  striv^er  after  perfection  that  he  was  generally 
thought  proud,  and  in  argument  overbearing,  and 
rather  insolent. 

It  was  about  this  time  (1733)  that  Franklin  made 
a  trip  to  Boston,  and  visited  his  gratified  relations. 
On  his  return  he  stopped  at  Newport,  where  James 
Franklin  was  now  living;  with  him  he  had  a  cordial 
meeting.  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  Benjamin  the 
man  behaved  with  more  tact  than  Benjamin  the  boy 
had  done  at  the  last  interview.  Later  he  was  to 
show  his  magnanimity  by  educating  his  brother's 
son,  then  a  lad  of  ten  years  of  age.  Benjamin  him- 
self already  had  a  family.  One  of  his  sons,  Francis 
Folger  Franklin,  was  to  die,  several  years  later,  of 
small-pox — a  victim  to  the  father's  prejudice  against 
inoculation. 

Thus  the  editor  went  on  aggressively  with  the 
problem  of  life,  taking  an  interest  in  every  phase  of 
it,  printing,  studying  languages,  writing  down  vir- 
tues to  be  practised,  and  now  and  then  getting  into 
breezy  controversies  with  his  fellow-citizens.  One 
of  these  controversies  arose  through  the  arrival  from 
Ireland  of  a  young  Presbyterian  minister  named 
Hemphill,  who  created  quite  a  stir  by  the  brilliancy 
of  his  preaching.  Among  his  numerous  admirers 
was  soon  numbered  Franklin.  In  the  sermons  of 
the  newcomer  he  found  little  of  the  dogmatic  style 
so  common  to  the  clergymen  of  the  time,  but  a 
great  deal  of  sound,  practical  virtue.  The  uncon- 
ventional methods  of  Hemphill  stirred  up,  however, 
a  violent  opposition  among  his  more  conservative 


54  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

Hsteners;  he  was  accused  of  heterodoxy,  and  the 
excitement  among  the  usually  quiet  inhabitants  of 
Philadelphia  grew  intense.  Franklin  flew  valiantly 
to  the  rescue,  raised  a  strong  party  in  his  interest, 
and  wrote  two  or  three  pamphlets  in  his  defence. 
Finding  that,  tho'  an  eloquent  preacher,  he  was 
but  a  poor  writer,  I  lent  him  my  pen,"  says  our 
Autobiographer,  who  might  have  suspected,  even 
then,  that  there  was  something  curious  in  the  liter- 
ary deficiency  of  a  clergyman  who  could  deliver  such 
well-considered  discourses.  Knowing  as  we  do  the 
sturdy  spirit  of  Franklin,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  that 
the  contest  would  have  resulted  in  victory  for  his 
protege  had  it  not  been  for  "  an  unlucky  occur- 
rence "  which  "  hurt  his  cause  exceedingly."  In 
short,  Mr.  Hemphill  was  an  unblushing  plagiarist. 
One  of  his  adversaries  thought  that  a  sermon  which 
the  reverend  gentleman  preached  with  great  effect 
had  a  familiar  ring;  he  looked  into  the  matter,  and 
was  delighted  to  discover  that  the  glowing  words 
he  had  heard  were  published  in  a  British  review  and 
attributed  to  Dr.  James  Foster,  the  London  divine. 
This  settled  the  career  of  the  stranger  in  Philadel- 
phia, but  Franklin  stood  by  his  theological  guns, 
possibly  because  he  was  too  nettled  to  draw  out  of 
a  fight  which  he  had  taken  so  much  to  heart.  "  I 
rather  approved  his  giving  us  good  sermons  com- 
posed by  others,  than  bad  ones  of  his  own  manu- 
facture, tho'  the  latter  was  the  practice  of  our 
common  teachers."  And  yet  in  that  little  moral 
book  of  his  Franklin  had  placed  "  Sincerity  "  among 
the  virtues. 


I740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       55 

When,  later  on,  Whiteficld  came  to  Philadelphia 
to  throw  the  sombre  spell  of  his  religious  fervour 
and  natural  eloquence  over  many  of  the  inhabitants, 
Franklin  listened  with  keen,  critical  attention  to  the 
impassioned  words  of  warning  which  fell  from  the 
great  preacher's  lips.  He  always  tried  to  keep  on 
his  guard  with  the  reformer,  as  though  half  afraid  of 
being  carried  away  by  the  flood  of  oratory,  and  he 
was  obdurate  enough,  when  Whitefield  returned 
from  his  trip  to  Georgia,  to  refuse  contributing  to  the 
orphan  asylum  projected  by  the  evangelist.  White- 
field  wished  to  place  the  institution  in  Georgia,  while 
Franklin  wanted  it  built  in  Philadelphia,  contending 
that  in  a  place  where  material  and  workmen  were 
more  plentiful  it  would  be  far  easier  to  erect  the 
asylum,  and  to  have  transported  to  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware  the  destitute  Southern  children  whom  it 
was  intended  to  shelter.  But  the  "  spell-binding" 
genius  of  the  visitor  was  to  conquer,  and  no  one 
would  appreciate  the  humour  of  the  victory  more 
than  P"ranklin. 

"  I  happened  soon  after,"  writes  the  latter,  "  to  attend  one  of  his 
sermons  in  the  course  of  which  I  perceived  he  intended  to  finish  with 
a  collection,  and  I  silently  resolved  he  should  get  nothing  from  me. 
I  had  in  my  pocket  a  handful  of  copper  money,  three  or  four  silver 
dollars,  and  five  pistoles  in  gold.  As  he  proceeded  I  began  to  soften, 
and  concluded  to  give  the  coppers.  Another  stroke  of  his  oratory 
made  me  ashamed  of  that,  and  determined  me  to  give  the  silver ; 
and  he  finished  so  admirably  that  I  empty'd  my  pocket  wholly  into 
the  collector's  dish,  gold  and  all." 

What  a  scene  to  have  witnessed  !  The  self-restraint 
of  the  imperturbable  Franklin  gradually  melting  be- 
fore the  inspired  pleadings  of  the  enthusiast. 


56  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

The  Philadelphia  which  welcomed  Whitefield,  and 
wherein  Franklin  was  already  assuming  so  promi- 
nent a  position,  was  a  pretty,  prosperous  town,  with 
a  growing  commerce  and  a  population  that  before 
many  years  (in  about  1744)  would  swell  to  the 
enormous  figure  of  twelve  or  thirteen  thousand 
souls.  Pennsylvania  was  a  thriving  province,  hav- 
ing for  its  proprietors  the  sons  of  William  Penn, 
with  whose  interests  the  people  and  their  Assembly 
were  not  always  in  harmony.  Everywhere  loyalty 
to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain  prevailed;  there  was 
real  affection  for  the  mother-country  in  the  hearts 
of  her  American  children ;  everything  seemed  to 
point  to  a  continuation  of  the  bonds  existing  be- 
tween them.  Philadelphia  herself  was  well-to-do, 
conservative,  a  little  dull,  and  fond,  even  then,  of 
good  living,  and  the  Quakers  still  retained  an  influ- 
ence which  would  not  be  impaired  until  the  enemies 
of  their  non-combative  theory,  with  Franklin  at 
their  head,  should  strike  a  mighty  blow.  The  in- 
tellectual life  of  the  city  was  not  exactly  brilliant, 
and  conditions  were,  of  necessity,  more  or  less 
primitive,  but  men  of  liberal  education  could  be 
found. 

Franklin  himself,  by  the  establishment  (1731-32) 
of  the  Philadelphia  Library,  had  done  a  great  deal 
to  stir  up  the  mental  activity  of  his  townsmen. 
This  institution  forms  to-day  one  of  the  most  endur- 
ing monuments  to  his  enterprise  and  sagacity. 
Until  then,  a  public  library  was  undreamt  of  in  the 
philosophy  of  Philadelphians.  Good  books  were 
hard  to  obtain  unless  one  went  to  the  trouble  of  im- 


L  i 


I740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       57 

porting  them  from  England,  an  expensive  and 
tedious  method,  and  one  seldom  employed.  The 
fact  was  that  the  majority  of  the  thrifty  citizens 
were  so  much  immersed  in  the  carrying  on  of  their 
respective  trades  that  they  gave  little  attention, 
before  the  organising  of  the  library,  to  the  demands 
of  literature.  So  it  remained  for  Franklin  to  put  the 
right  kind  of  reading  within  their  reach.  This  he 
did  in  a  way  that  was  almost  accidental. 

It  appears  that  the  members  of  the  Junto,  who 
naturally  prided  themselves  on  their  knowledge  of 
the  liberal  arts,  had  each  a  few  books.  When  they 
gave  up  a  tavern  as  their  place  of  meeting  and 
rented  a  club-room  of  their  own,  the  precious  vol- 
umes, at  Franklin's  suggestion,  were  placed  in  the 
new  quarters,  and  were  borrowed,  taken  home,  and 
read.  It  was  a  club-circulating  library,  and  the 
venture  proved  so  admirable  a  one  that  its  origina- 
tor made  up  his  mind  to  go  further  and  to  start  a 
public  subscription  library.  A  plan  was  accordingly 
drawn  up,  and,  after  some  difficulty,  fifty  persons, 
the  most  of  them  young  tradesmen,  were  secured 
for  the  pledging  of  forty  shillings  each  for  the  first 
purchase  of  books,  and  ten  shillings  per  year  as 
dues.*  Reading  was  not  then  fashionable,  but  it 
soon  became  so,  and  from  the  organisation  of  the 
Philadelphia  Library  may  be  dated  that  quiet,  un- 
ostentatious, but  none  the  less  pronounced,  love  of 
books  so  characteristic  of  the  Quaker  City.  Phila- 
delphia never  was,  and  probably  never  will  be,  an 

*  The  Philadelphia  Library  was  incorporated  in  1742.     The  first 
books  for  the  society  arrived  from  London  in  October,  1732. 


58  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

intellectual  centre  of  the  Boston  type,  but  it  has 
been  for  many  years  a  community  where  the  average 
of  general  information  stands  high. 

What  particularly  impresses  one  at  this  point  is 
the  catholicity,  the  many-sided  nature,  of  the  editor 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette.  He  publishes  a  paper, 
and  the  founding  of  a  library  seems,  therefore,  a 
congenial  task,  but  when  he  rushes — or  rather  walks 
sedately — into  a  far  different  line  of  philanthropy 
and  organises  a  fire  company,  we  hold  up  our  hands 
in  surprise.  Yet  that  was  what  he  did  in  1736,  after 
having  become  impressed  with  the  wretchedly  in- 
adequate provision  for  extinguishing  fires.  He  was 
determined  to  have  for  Philadelphia  a  regular  fire 
company,  on  the  model  of  one  in  Boston,  and  suc- 
ceeded so  well  in  his  scheme  that  other  organisations 
of  the  same  kind  were  not  long  in  being  equipped. 
Many  a  time  must  he  have  run  to  a  fire  with  his 
leather  buckets,  forgetting  his  business  and  his 
books,  and  working  as  hard  as  though  he  were  never 
to  become  a  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence or  the  petted  envoy  to  France.  He  will  con- 
gratulate himself  when  he  comes  to  write  the  sketch 
of  his  life  that  since  the  rise  of  fire  companies  Phila- 
delphia "  has  never  lost  by  fire  more  than  one  or 
two  houses  at  a  time,"  and  that  "  the  flames  have 
often  been  extinguished  before  the  house  in  which 
they  began  Jias  been  half  consumed.''  What  must 
the  fires  have  resulted  in  before  that  fortunate  era?* 


*  Another  service  for  which  Franklin  put  Philadelphia  in  his  debt 
\vas  in  suggesting  a  plan  for  the  reorganisation  of  the  "  city  watch." 


1740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       59 

We  have  not  yet  traced  very  far  the  eventful 
career  of  this  future  hero  of  the  nation,  but  he  has 
already  displayed  phases  of  character  and  of  mental 
power  that  stamp  him  indelibly  as  one  man  among 
millions.  Let  us  glance  for  an  instant  at  the  differ- 
ent guises  in  which  he  is  revealed  to  us.  Here  is 
the  list : 

The  Craftsman  :  He  has  mastered  the  intricacies 
of  the  printer's  trade,  and  there  is,  perhaps,  in  all 
the  colonies  no  better  compositor  than  he,  and  no 
one  who  can  set  cleaner  "  copy,"  make  a  more  efifi- 
cient  foreman,  or  get  out  a  neater  book.  He  can 
work  a  press,  bind  books,  too,  keep  a  stationery 
store,  and  could,  if  circumstances  demanded,  make 
soap  and  candles,  turn  clerk,  cast  accounts,  or  do 
engraving. 

The  Publisher:  He  manages  a  paper,  contributes 
to  it,  and  performs  the  multifarious  duties  of  editor, 
news  collector,  and  head  printer. 

The  Philosopher :  He  has  a  knowledge  of  mankind, 
a  sagacity,  and  a  felicity  of  expression  that  place  him 
in  the  same  class  with  Socrates.  More  than  a  cen- 
tury after  his  death  Professor  Moses  Coit  Tyler  will 
draw  the  following  parallel  between  the  two  *: 

"  Besides  the  plebeian  origin  of  both,  and  some  trace  of  plebeian 
manners  which  clung  to  both,  and  the  strain  of  animal  coarseness 
from  which  neither  was  ever  entirely  purified,  they  both  had  an 
amazing  insight  into  human  nature  in  all  its  grades  and  phases,  they 
were  both  indifferent  to  literary  fame,  they  were  both  humourists, 
they  both  applied  their  great  intellectual  gifts  in  a  disciplinary  but 

*  Literary  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  vol.  ii.  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons. 


6o  Benjamin  Franklin  [1728- 

genial  way  to  the  improvement  of  their  fellow-men,  and  in  dealing 
controversially  with  the  opinions  of  others  they  both  understood  and 
practised  the  strategy  of  coolness,  playfulness,  and  unassuming  man- 
ner, moderation  of  statement,  the  logical  parallel,  and  irony." 

The  Prose  Writer:  He  has  written  striking  pam- 
phlets, articles  for  the  newspapers,  etc,  and  a  num- 
ber of  essays,  some  of  which  compare  favourably 
with  the  style  of  Addison. 

The  Versifier:  He  is  not  a  poet,  but  he  writes  in- 
different rhymes. 

The  Religious  Thinker  :  He  has  turned  from 
atheism  to  deism,  and  has  invented  for  his  observ- 
ance a  moral  code,  in  which  the  virtues  are  temper- 
ance, silence,  order,  resolution,  frugality,  industry, 
sincerity,  justice,  moderation,  cleanliness,  tranquil- 
lity, chastity,  and  humility. 

The  Political  Economist :  He  has  written  a  defence 
of  paper  money,  and  has  thereby  induced  the  As- 
sembly of  Pennsylvania  to  defy  the  orders  of  the 
English  Government. 

The  Sinner:  In  spite  of  all  his  fine  resolutions  he 
has  erred  like  lesser  mortals. 

The  Philanthropist:  He  supplies  Philadelphians 
with  books,  and  lessens  the  damage  from  fire. 

The  Diplomat :  He  has  been  careful  of  appearance, 
and  has  an  eye  to  the  main  chance. 

The  Reformer:  He  has  the  courage  of  his  convic- 
tions and  can  speak  out  on  occasion. 

The  Saver  of  Money:  He  has  been  penurious. 

The  Giver  of  Money :  He  has  been  generous. 
Vide  Collins  and  Ralph. 

The  Forgetful  Lover:  He  has  jilted  Miss  Read. 


I740]      An  Editor  of  the  Old  School       6i 

The    Faithful    Husband:    He   has  married   Miss 

Read. 

The  Humourist:  He  can  see  the  Hghter  side  of 

things. 

The  ReaHst:  He  takes  an  austere  interest  in  the 
commonplace  affairs  of  life. 

Here  we  have  a  set  of  characteristics  some  of 
which  might  seem  strangely  at  war  one  with  another 
were  it  not  for  the  nature  of  him  in  whom  they  are 
blended  so  effectively.  The  printer  who  is  working 
so  energetically  with  his  apprentices  in  the  office  of 
the  Gazette— \.\i^t  stocky  man  of  medium  height, 
with  the  gray  eyes  twinkling  shrewdness,  kindliness, 
and  humour— is  blessed  with  a  vast  power  of  adapt- 
ability, and  the  gift  of  being  many  things  at  once. 
Above  all,  and  regulating  all,  is  an  ambition  to 
succeed.  He  is  solving  the  problem  of  existence 
in  his  own  steady,  unimpassioned  fashion;  he  will 
soon  make  rapid  strides  in  its  solution.  We  will 
follow  him,  and  see  how  the  private  citizen  is  al- 
ready developing  into  the  public  man.  His  ways 
may  not  be  always  the  ways  of  smoothness,  and  his 
paths  not  always  those  of  peace,  but  there  will  be 
length  of  days,  and  honour,  in  store  for  him. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE   SERVANT   OF   THE   PUBLIC 


1736-I754 


^^^^^^^EFORE  describinsT  the  public  activities 
of  Franklin,  which  were  to  continue 
for  half  a  century  or  more,  let  the 
reader  bear  in  mind  that  our  hero 
had  three  qualities  destined  to  prove 
of  essential  value  in  the  future.  He  possessed  a 
mind  in  which  common  sense  played  a  more  import- 
ant ro/e  than  impracticable  enthusiasm ;  he  knew 
how  to  make  the  best  of  current  circumstances  while 
leading  up  to  the  accomplishment  of  great  aims; 
egotist  though  he  was,  and  despite  the  assertion  of 
enemies  to  the  contrary,  he  loved  his  country  better 
than  himself.  There  have  been  more  brilliant  states- 
men who  have  done  far  less  for  American  progress, 
simply  because  they  lacked  one  or  all  of  these  vir- 
tues. Some  of  them  have  had  noble  conceptions 
without  the  worldly  wisdom  necessary  to  carry  them 
into  effect ;  some  have  rebelled  at  the  inevitable, 
degenerating  into  political  scolds  ;  others  have  ruined 

62 


1754]       The  Servant  of  the  Public  63 

themselves  by  yielding  to  the  mad  longing  for  per- 
sonal power  and  self-aggrandisement.  Failure,  often 
even  shame,  has  been  the  consequence.  It  is  well, 
therefore,  to  watch  the  means  employed  by  Frank- 
lin to  contribute  to  the  common  weal,  and  to  con- 
trast his  success  with  the  fall  of  men  either  less 
observing,  less  stable,  or  less  honest  than  himself. 

His  entrance  into  the  arena  of  public  life  was 
made  modestly  enough  in  the  year  1736,  as  clerk  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Assembly.  Indeed,  he  attached 
little  importance  to  the  position  beyond  the  fact  that 
it  brought  him  into  closer  contact  with  the  legisla- 
tors, and  secured  for  him  a  goodly  amount  of  official 
printing — a  business  chance  which  interfered  in  no 
wise  with  his  duties,  and  for  which,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances then  prevailing,  we  cannot  really  blame 
him  for  turning  to  advantage.  The  following  year 
he  was  again  chosen  clerk,  notwithstanding  the  op- 
position of  one  member  of  the  Assembly  who 
favoured  a  candidate  of  his  own,  and  who  uncon- 
sciously advertised  the  abilities  of  Franklin  by  de- 
livering a  long  speech  against  him.  To  win  over 
this  opponent,  who  might  put  further  obstacles  in 
his  way,  was  now  the  aim  of  the  re-elected  officer, 
and  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  went  about  the 
task  in  a  mode  that  bespoke  the  wisdom  of  the  ser- 
pent. To  defy  the  Assemblyman  would  be  worse 
than  foolish ;  to  fawn  upon  him  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  not  suited  to  the  independent  character  of 
the  clerk.  Franklin  sat  down  and  coolly  wrote  the 
member,  asking  the  loan  of  a  curious  book  from  his 
library.     The  gentleman  fell  into  the  good-natured 


64  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

trap,  doubtless  much  flattered  by  the  request,  sent 
the  desired  volume,  and  in  a  few  days  the  borrower 
returned  it  with  a  polite  note  of  thanks.  Let  us 
hope  that  he  had  read  the  book.  One  thing  is  cer- 
tain; from  that  moment  the  claws  of  the  member 
were  drawn,  and  he  became  an  intimate  friend  of 
his  former  enemy.  A  little  diplomacy  had  won  the 
day. 

It  was  now  (1737)  that  Franklin  was  made  post- 
master of  Philadelphia  by  ex-Governor  Spotswood 
of  Virginia,  then  Postmaster-General  of  the  colonies. 
An  archaic  office,  although  not  a  sinecure,  the  post- 
mastership  of  even  a  large  town  must  have  been. 
The  mere  announcement  of  the  appointment  shows 
that  the  carrying  of  the  mails  had  not  been  elevated 
to  the  dignity  of  a  fine  art.  Far  from  it,  for  we 
read  that "  the  post-office  of  Philadelphia  is  now  kept 
at  B.  Franklin's,  in  Market  street;  and  that  Henry 
Pratt  is  appointed  Riding  Postmaster  for  all  the 
stages  between  Philadelphia  and  Newport  in  Vir- 
ginia, who  sets  out  about  the  beginning  of  each 
month,  and  returns  in  twenty-four  days;  by  whom 
gentlemen,  merchants,  and  others  may  have  their 
letters  carefully  conveyed,  and  business  faithfully 
transacted,"  etc. 

Such  regular  distribution  of  mails  as  there  hap- 
pened to  be  throughout  the  colonies  was  attended 
to  by  carriers  on  horseback,  and  even  that  system 
was  poor  enough.  No  one  had  a  keener  idea  of  its 
inadequacy  than  Franklin,  and  a  time  was  to  come 
when  he  would  be  able  to  build  the  foundation  for 
that   admirable  service  which   is  to-day  one  of  the 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Pubhc  65 

most  creditable  departments  of  the  national  govern- 
ment. 

In  1737  the  salary  attached  to  the  postmastership 
was  insignificant,  even  for  that  era  of  frugal  stipends, 
but  the  office  was  of  advantage  to  Franklin  in  that  it 
gave  him  greater  facilities  for  the  publishing  of  the 
Gazette,  and  imparted  to  the  paper,  as  it  were,  an 
official  status  that  won  for  it  larger  circulation  and 
more  advertising  patronage.  In  one  way,  it  is 
pleasant  to  remember,  Franklin  refused  to  imitate 
Bradford,  his  predecessor  in  office — he  did  not  forbid 
(excepting  once  at  the  peremptory  orders  of  Spots- 
wood)  the  post-riders  from  carrying  the  opposition 
journal,  the  Mercury.  This  generosity  was  good 
policy,  too;  the  Gazette  thrived  wonderfully,  and 
Franklin,  who  had  begun  to  be  a  capitalist  on  a 
small  scale,  and  to  advance  money  for  the  establish- 
ment of  several  of  his  workmen  in  different  colonies, 
by  this  time  must  have  ceased  to  trundle  about  that 
ostentatious  wheelbarrow. 

For  ten  useful  years  the  ways  of  Franklin  were 
the  ways  of  peace,  and  he  lived  at  amity  with  most 
men,  not  forgetting  the  all-powerful  Quakers.  But 
in  1747  he  dealt  the  Quaker  policy  of  non-resistance 
a  blow  from  which  it  never  fully  recovered ;  he  was 
thus  able  to  influence  the  trend  of  public  opinion 
and  to  infuse  into  many  a  Philadelphian  a  war- 
like spirit  which  was  to  bear  striking  fruit  on  the 
threshold  of  the  Revolution.  The  warring  of  France 
and  Spain  against  Great  Britain  was  the  cause  of 
this  local  earthquake,  and  a  rather  indirect  cause  it 

might  seem  were  we  not  to  remember  that  it  ex- 
5 


66  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

posed  the  seaboard  of  the  colonies  to  the  descent  of 
privateers,  with  all  the  cruelty  and  pillage  that  such 
expeditions  brought  in  their  wake.  Massachusetts 
had  taken  the  alarm,  and  gallantly  fitted  out  an 
expedition  against  Louisburg;  everywhere  "  De- 
fence " — defence  against  warfare  of  the  most  de- 
spicable type — was  the  earnest  cry.  Philadelphia 
was  in  danger;  French  and  Spanish  privateers  were 
hovering  in  Delaware  Bay.  Yet  all  was  at  a  stand- 
still. The  Pennsylvania  Assembly  was  practically 
in  the  hands  of  the  Quakers,  who  refused  to  supply 
the  money  necessary  to  put  the  province  in  the  nec- 
essary condition  of  security.  To  take  up  arms,  or 
actively  countenance  the  taking  up  of  arms,  was  to 
act  in  opposition  to  one  of  their  most  cherished 
beliefs.  The  laws  of  Pennsylvania,  furthermore, 
sedulously  respected  their  scruples.  Governor 
Thomas  entreated,  but  as  the  non-combative  theory 
still  held  the  power,  he  turned  his  energies  to  at- 
tacking the  Spaniards  through  Cuba.  In  short,  he 
set  about  organising  several  companies  of  volunteers 
for  the  conquest  of  that  island,  assuring  them  that 
the  Cubans  would  fly  before  them,  leaving  all  of 
their  possessions  as  booty  for  the  invaders. 

Now  Franklin,  who  possessed  the  rare  gift  of 
knowing  when  to  act  and  when  to  remain  quiescent, 
determined  that  the  time  had  come  for  aggressive 
opposition  to  the  dangerous  conservatism  or  dogma- 
tism of  the  peace-at-any-price  party.  None  the  less 
was  he  impelled  to  break  up  the  existing  order  of 
things  because  of  the  boldness  of  the  privateers. 
One  of  these  vessels  had  not  long  before  appeared 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Public  67 

off  Cape  May,  flying  the  English  colours,  and  when 
a  pilot  innocently  boarded  her  he  was  immediately 
made  prisoner,  his  boat  was  seized  and  manned  by 
a  crew  composed,  in  the  main,  of  Spaniards,  who 
proceeded  up  the  river,  pillaging  a  plantation,  carry- 
ing off  four  negroes,  and  capturing  a  ship  with  a 
valuable  cargo  on  it.  It  was  time  to  call  a  halt. 
Franklin  called  it  in  a  characteristic  way,  by  writ- 
ing a  pamphlet  which  made  him  many  enemies  among 
the  older  Quakers,  gained  over  to  his  views  some  of 
the  younger  members  of  the  sect,  and  became  the 
one  topic  of  conversation  in  the  town.  As  for  the 
party  of  defence,  a  numerous  and  belligerent  throng, 
they  were  jubilant. 

The  pamphlet,  which  shows  us  Franklin  in  his 
best  form  as  a  patriot  of  sterling  sense,  was  entitled 
Plain  Truth,  and  had  as  the  ostensible  author  "  A 
Tradesman  of  Philadelphia."  It  is  prefaced  by  a 
quotation  from  Sallust  [Capta  urbc,  niJiil  fit  rcliqui 
victis,  etc,  "  Should  the  city  be  taken,  all  will  be 
lost  to  the  conquered  "),  and  starts  off  with  this 
well-considered  paragraph : 

"  It  is  said  the  wise  Italians  make  this  proverbial  remark  on  our 
nation,  viz.,  '  The  English  fi-el  but  they  do  not  see.'  That  is,  they 
are  sensible  of  inconveniences  when  they  are  present,  but  do  not  take 
sufficient  care  to  prevent  them  ;  their  natural  courage  makes  them 
too  little  apprehensive  of  danger,  so  that  they  are  often  surj^rised  by 
it,  unprovided  of  the  proper  means  of  security.  When  it  is  too  late 
they  are  sensible  of  their  imprudence  ;  after  great  fires  they  provide 
buckets  and  engines  ;  after  a  pestilence  they  think  of  keeping  clean 
their  streets  and  common  sewers  ;  and  when  a  town  has  been  sacked 
by  their  enemies  they  provide  for  its  defence,  etc.  This  kind  of 
after-wisdom  is  indeed  so  common  with  us  as  to  occasion  the  vulgar 


68  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

though  very  significant  saying,   IVhen  the  steed  is  stolen  you  shut  the 
stable  door." 

After  this  prelude,  containing  philosophy  as 
apropos  to-day  as  it  was  a  century  and  a  half  ago, 
the  writer  goes  on  to  expose  the  dangerous  situation 
of  the  province  from  Indians  and  foreign  aggressions 
alike,  to  quote  Scripture,  and  to  give  very  strong 
reasons  for  the  policy  of  defence. 

"  The  enemy,"  he  continues,  "no  doubt  have  been  told  that  the 
people  of  Pennsylvania  are  Quakers,  and  against  all  defence  from  a 
principle  of  conscience.  This,  though  true  of  a  part,  and  that  a 
small  part  only,  of  the  inhabitants,  is  commonly  said  of  the  whole, 
and  what  may  make  it  look  probable  to  strangers  is  that,  in  fact, 
nothing  is  done  by  any  part  of  the  people  towards  their  defence. 
But  to  refuse  defending  oneself,  or  one's  country,  is  so  unusual  a 
thing  among  mankind,  that  possibly  they  may  not  believe  it  till,  by 
experience,  they  find  they  can  come  higlier  and  higher  up  our  river, 
seize  our  vessels,  land,  and  plunder  our  plantations  and  villages,  and 
retire  with  their  booty  unmolested." 

Such  pungent,  hard-headed  reasoning  made /Y*?/?/ 
Truth  the  sensation  of  the  year,  and  elevated  the 
author  to  the  pinnacle  of  a  hero  among  those  who 
fervently  urged  the  protection  of  their  firesides. 
The  more  ultra  Quakers  might  hold  up  their  hands 
in  horror  at  this  temerity,  but  that  frightened  not 
Franklin.  The  die  was  cast,  the  Rubicon  crossed; 
open  defiance  had  been  hurled  at  the  laisses-faire 
dogma,  and  the  thing  now  to  do  was  to  act  on  a  hint 
thrown  out  in  the  pamphlet.  For  the  "  Tradesman 
of  Philadelphia  "  had  computed  that  the  province 
contained,  exclusive  of  the  peace  advocates,  sixty 
thousand  fighting  men,  "  acquainted  with  firearms, 
many  of  them  hunters  and  marksmen,   hardy  and 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Public  69 

bold."  "  All  we  want,"  he  had  added,  "  is  order, 
discipline,  and  a  few  cannon."  A  meeting  of  citi- 
zens was  held  for  the  formation  of  a  defence  asso- 
ciation, a  plan  for  which  was  drawn  up  under  the 
auspices  of  Franklin ;  many  signatures  to  it  were 
secured,  and  the  movement  soon  assumed  formid- 
able proportions.  The  provincial  Council  endorsed 
the  association  (Governor  Thomas  had  now  returned 
to  England,  and  Anthony  Palmer,  President  of 
Council,  was  acting  Governor);  there  were  petitions 
to  government  for  a  ship  of  war,  cannon,  arms,  and 
ammunition,  and  a  lottery  was  devised  to  obtain 
three  thousand  pounds  for  the  erection  of  a  battery 
in  the  Delaware,  below  the  city.  Bench  and  pulpit 
joined  in  the  cry  for  self-protection.  One  clergy- 
man preached  from  the  theme,  "  The  Lord  is  a  Man 
of  War. "  In  the  early  part  of  December,  companies 
of  militia  were  formed,  and  to  Franklin,  perhaps  the 
coolest  man  among  them  through  all  the  excite- 
ment, was  offered  the  colonelcy  of  the  Philadelphia 
regiment.  He  declined  the  honour,  however,  but 
showed  his  zeal  by  jogging  over  to  New  York  with 
several  citizens  to  persuade  Governor  Clinton  to  lend 
them  some  cannon  for  the  battery.* 

"  He  at  first  refused  us  peremptorily,"  relates  the  Autobiography, 
"but  at  dinner  with  his  council,  where  there  was  great  drinking  of 
Madeira  wine,  as  the  custom  of  that  place  then  was,  he  softened  by 
degrees,  and  said  he  would  lend  us  six.  After  a  few  more  bumpers 
he  advanced  to  ten  ;  and  at  length  he  very  good-naturedly  conceded 
eighteen." 

*  This  main  battery  was  erected  below  the  Old  Swedes'  Church. 
See  Scharf  and  Westcott's  History  of  Philadelphia,  for  some  interest- 
ing data  on  the  subject. 


yo  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

They  were  fine  pieces  of  cannon,  and  were  soon 
mounted  on  the  battery,  which  Franklin  took  his 
turn  at  guarding,  like  other  members  of  the  associa- 
tion, during  the  progress  of  the  war  abroad. 

Governor  Palmer  and  his  Council  made  much  of 
the  author  of  Plain  TriitJi,  whom  they  consulted  in 
many  things  concerning  the  plans  of  defence.  At 
his  suggestion  they  proclaimed  a  public  fast  whereby 
to  invoke  a  blessing  upon  the  project.  This  was  an 
innovation  for  Pennsylvania,  and  so  Franklin  put 
his  Puritan  training  to  advantage  by  drawing  up  the 
proclamation  for  the  fast  "  in  the  accustomed  stile  " 
of  New  England.  Whether  he  would  be  so  flattered 
by  the  Quakers  of  the  Assembly  (which  had  ad- 
journed in  October  not  to  meet  again  until  May, 
1748)  was  quite  another  question.  It  was  thought 
that  he  must  surely  lose  his  place  as  clerk  to  that 
body,  and  on  being  advised  to  resign,  as  a  pleasant 
alternative  to  having  his  position  ignominiously 
taken'  from  him,  he  said  with  emphasis  that  he 
would  "  never  ask,  never  refuse,  nor  ever  resign  an 
office,"  adding:  "  If  they  will  have  my  office  of 
clerk  to  dispose  of  to  another,  they  shall  take  it  from 
me.  I  will  not,  by  giving  it  up,  lose  my  right  of 
some  time  or  other  making  reprisals  on  my  adver- 
saries."  At  the  next  session,  strange  to  say,  he 
was  unanimously  re-elected  clerk,  possibly,  as  he 
explains,  because  "  they  did  not  care  to  displace  me 
on  account  merely  of  my  zeal  for  the  association." 

Perhaps  when  the  Assembly  came  together  the 
dislike  which  the  more  strait-laced  Quakers  felt  for 
Franklin  had  begun  to  wear  off  a  trifle.     Certainly 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Public  71 

a  combative  spirit  was  not  without  secret  adherents 
among  the  younger  members  of  the  Society,  whose 
patriotism  got  the  better  of  their  environment. 
FrankHn  himself  relates  an  instance  of  this  quiet, 
but  none  the  less  pronounced,  defection,  and  the 
story  is  so  graphic  that  it  may  best  be  told  in  his 
own  words : 

"It  had  been  proposed  that  we  [i.e.,  the  members  of  the  fire  com- 
pany he  had  founded]  should  encourage  the  scheme  for  building  a 
battery  by  laying  out  the  present  stock,  then  about  sixty  pounds,  in 
tickets  of  the  lottery.  By  our  rules,  no  money  could  be  disposed  of 
till  the  next  meeting  after  the  proposal.  The  company  consisted  of 
thirty  members,  of  which  twenty-two  were  Quakers,  and  eight  only 
of  other  persuasions.  We  eight  punctually  attended  the  meeting ; 
but,  tho'  we  thought  that  some  of  the  Quakers  would  join  us,  we  were 
by  no  means  sure  of  a  majority.  Only  one  Quaker,  Mr.  James  Mor- 
ris, appeared  to  oppose  the  measure.  He  expressed  much  sorrow 
that  it  had  ever  been  proposed,  as  he  said  Friends  \\e.x&  all  against  it, 
and  it  would  create  such  discord  as  might  break  up  the  company. 
We  told  him  that  we  saw  no  reason  for  that  ;  we  were  the  minority, 
and  if  Friends  were  against  the  measure,  and  outvoted  us,  we  might 
and  should,  agreeably  to  the  usage  of  all  societies,  submit.  When 
the  hour  for  business  arrived  it  was  moved  to  put  the  vote  ;  he 
allowed  we  then  might  do  it  by  the  rules  ;  but,  as  he  could  assure  us 
that  a  number  of  members  intended  to  be  present  for  the  purpose  of 
opposing  it,  it  would  be  but  candid  to  allow  a  little  time  for  their 
appearing. 

"  While  we  were  disputing  this,  a  waiter  came  to  tell  me  two  gen- 
tlemen below  desired  to  speak  with  me.  I  went  down,  and  found 
they  were  two  of  our  Quaker  members.  They  told  me  there  were 
eight  of  them  assembled  at  a  tavern  just  by  ;  that  they  were  deter- 
mined to  come  and  vote  with  us  if  there  should  be  occasion,  which 
they  hoped  would  not  be  the  case,  and  desired  we  would  not  call  for 
their  assistance  if  we  could  do  without  it,  as  their  voting  for  such  a 
measure  might  embroil  them  with  their  elders  and  friends.  Being 
thus  secure  of  a  majority,  I  went  up,  and  after  a  little  seeming  hesi- 
tation, agreed  to  a  delay  of  another  hour.     This  Mr.  Morris  allowed 


72  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

to  be  extreamly  fair.  Not  one  of  his  opposing  friends  appeared,  at 
which  he  expressed  great  surprise  ;  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  hour, 
we  carry'd  the  resolution  eight  to  one  ;  and  as,  of  the  twenty-two 
Quakers,  eight  were  ready  to  vote  with  us,  and  thirteen,  by  their  ab- 
sence, manifested  that  they  were  not  inclined  to  oppose  the  measure, 
1  afterwards  estimated  the  proportion  of  Quakers  sincerely  against 
defence  as  one  to  twenty-one  only  ;  for  these  were  all  regular  mem- 
bers of  that  Society  and  in  good  reputation  among  them,  and  had  due 
notice  of  what  was  proposed  at  that  meeting." 

This  was  a  bit  crafty  in  our  hero,  but  let  it  be  re- 
membered that  the  strategy  went  to  benefit  a  good 
cause.  And  no  one  felt  more  keenly  than  he  the 
humours  of  a  situation  where  a  few  progressive 
Quakers  found  it  difficult  to  make  a  satisfactory 
blending  of  their  loyalty  and  their  non-resistance 
article  of  faith.  For  deep  down  in  their  hearts  was 
a  warm  love  of  country  which  impelled  them  to 
tacitly  sanction  measures  that  they  could  not  openly 
approve. 

During  all  the  excitement  following  the  publica- 
tion of  Plain  Talk,  it  was  a  great  satisfaction  to 
Franklin  to  know  that  James  Logan,  the  one-time 
agent  and  friend  of  William  Penn,  was  openly  in 
favour  of  the  association  for  defence.  He  himself 
had  handed  to  the  worthy  author  of  the  pamphlet 
the  sum  of  sixty  pounds,  to  be  used  in  the  purchase 
of  lottery  tickets  in  aid  of  the  battery.  Like  Frank- 
lin, the  cultivated  Logan  had  a  humorous  idea  of 
the  paradoxical  complications  frequently  arising 
through  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance,  and 
he  could  cite,  by  way  of  illustration,  an  experience 
of  his  own.  When  he  was  coming  over  to  Philadel- 
phia in    1699,   as  Penn's  secretary,  the  good  ship 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Public  7?> 

Canterbury,  which  bore  him  and  his  distinguished 
master,  met  with  an  armed  vessel  that  was  at  first 
supposed  to  be  an  enemy.  The  captain  determined 
to  defend  himself,  but,  knowing  the  peace  policy  of 
the  Quakers,  he  advised  Penn  and  his  companions 
to  retire  to  the  seclusion  and  safety  of  the  cabin — a 
suggestion  adopted  by  all  of  the  party  excepting 
the  independent  Logan,  who  remained  on  deck, 
quartered  to  a  gun.  The  enemy  was  no  enemy  at 
all,  but  a  friendly  ship,  and  when  the  secretary  went 
below  to  tell  the  news,  Penn  rebuked  him  severely 
and  publicly  for  his  martial  sentiment.  The  censure 
stung  Logan,  who  answered,  evidently  with  a  good 
deal  of  non-Quaker-like  heat,  "  I  being  thy  servant, 
why  did  thee  not  order  me  to  come  down  ?  But  thee 
was  willing  enough  that  I  should  stay  and  fight  the 
ship  when  thee  thought  there  was  danger."  We 
can  imagine  that  when  Plain  Ta/kwa.s  the  one  great 
topic  of  local  conversation  Logan  related  the  anec- 
dote to  Franklin  with  much  relish. 

Meanwhile  Mars  stalked  triumphantly  through 
the  City  of  Brotherly  Love.  Cannon  arrived  from 
England ;  the  newly  organised  companies  were  re- 
viewed and  drilled.  It  was  requested  that,  in  case 
of  alarm  at  night,  the  citizens  in  sympathy  with 
defence  should  place  lighted  candles  in  the  lower 
windows  and  doors  of  their  houses,  "  for  the  more 
convenient  marching  of  the  militia  and  well-affected 
persons  who  may  join  them."  Privateering  was  still 
a  dangerous  industry,  however,  and  there  was  gen- 
eral rejoicing  when  the  British  sloop-of-war  0/Ur 
came  up  the  Delaware  to  protect  the  commerce  of 


74  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

the  city.  But  the  Otter  met  with  an  accident  which 
disabled  her,  and  the  river  offered  many  terrors  to 
arriving  or  departing  merchantmen.  On  one  occa- 
sion Captain  Lopez,  in  command  of  a  Spanish  brig- 
antine,  sailed  boldly  up  the  Delaware,  flying  the 
English  colours,  and  might  have  captured  a  large 
vessel  anchored  at  New  Castle,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  escape  of  one  of  his  prisoners,  an  American,  who 
leaped  from  the  privateer,  swam  ashore,  and  put  his 
compatriots  on  their  guard.  There  was  firing  from 
the  New  Castle  battery,  and  the  threatened  ship; 
firing,  too,  from  Captain  Lopez,  who  displayed  his 
real  colours,  and  finally  sailed  gaily  down  the  river 
after  promising  to  return  with  other  craft  and  plun- 
der and  burn  to  his  heart's  content.  As  the  enter- 
prising commander  expected  to  include  Philadelphia 
in  his  little  trip  there  was  much  uneasiness;  a  new 
company  of  artillery  was  formed,  and  extra  precau- 
tions taken.  Surely  the  Assembly  might  now  be 
expected  to  assist  the  defenders.  But  that  provok- 
ing body  met,  did  nothing,  and  adjourned. 

Then  a  fresh  alarm  was  raised.  It  was  reported 
that  seven  suspicious  vessels,  one  of  them  carrying 
thirty  guns,  were  down  in  the  bay,  and  it  was  some 
little  time  before  the  anxious  Philadelphians  heard 
that  the  visitors  belonged  to  the  English  navy. 
Then  came  the  great  news  that  the  war  was  at  an 
end,  and  that  the  peace  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 
had  been  signed  (1748). 

Philadelphia  now  settled  down  to  quietude,  but 
she  was  not  the  Philadelphia  of  old.  Mars  had  won 
a  victory  within  the  very  gates  of  his  most  fervent 


17541        The  Servant  of  the  Public  75 

enemies,  and  the  dogma  of  impassiveness  was,  if  by 
no  means  dead,  maimed  by  a  wound  which  would 
never  heal.  And  Franklin  had,  first  by  his  pen,  and 
then  by  his  acts,  done  more  to  bring  about  this  re- 
sult than  any  other  man  in  the  province.  What 
wonder  was  it  that  the  public  began  to  claim  him 
more  and  more,  as  though  he  were  some  willing 
servant  from  whom  any  amount  of  honest,  efficient 
work  might  be  expected  as  a  matter  of  right  ? 

Yet  Franklin  was  just  comforting  himself  with  the 
thought  that  he  could  now  find  opportunity  to  pur- 
sue those  scientific  researches  which  were  destined 
to  contribute  so  generously  to  his  fame.  He  had 
recently  taken  into  partnership  his  foreman,  David 
Hall,  who  was  to  carry  on  the  printing  business  for 
him ;  he  was  in  easy  circumstances,  and  a  vista  of 
refined  leisure  opened  up  before  him.*  But  there 
was  to  be  no  leisure  in  his  life.  No  sooner  had  he 
determined  to  be  a  savant,  and  nothing  but  a 
savant,  than,  as  he  expresses  it,  the  public  "  laid 
hold  of  me  for  their  purposes,  every  part  of  our  civil 
government,  and  almost  at  the  same  time,  imposing 
some  duty  upon  me."  He  was  made  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  a  member  of  the  Common  Council,  and 
then  an  alderman,  and  elected  (1752)  to  the  provin- 
cial Assembly. 

"  This  later  station,"  he  explains,  "  was  the  more  agreeable  to  me, 

*  Under  the  terms  of  partnership  the  new  partner  was  to  pay 
Franklin  a  thousand  pounds  a  year  for  eighteen  years,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  which  time  Hall  should  become  sole  proprietor  of  the  busi- 
ness, no  further  payments  being  required.  Franklin  was  to  contribute 
to  the  Gazette  and  to  Poor  Richard's  Almanac. 


^^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

as  I  was  at  length  tired  of  sitting  there  to  hear  debates  in  which,  as 
clerk,  I  could  take  no  part,  and  which  were  often  so  unentertaining 
that  I  was  induced  to  amuse  myself  with  making  magic  squares  or 
circles,  or  anything  to  avoid  weariness  ;  and  I  conceived  my  becom- 
ing a  member  would  enlarge  my  power  of  doing  good." 

He  is  candid  enough  to  admit,  however,  that  his 
ambition  was  flattered,  as  well  it  might  be,  and  he 
takes  pride  in  recalling  that  in  succeeding  years 
during  which  he  served  in  the  Assembly  he  never 
asked  an  elector  for  his  vote,  or  signified,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  "  any  desire  of  being  chosen." 
This  is  a  confession  worth  recommending  to  a  few 
modern  politicians,  but  we  are  not  to  draw  any  false 
conclusions  from  it.  Franklin  was  the  soul  of  hon- 
esty in  politics,  yet  he  never  forgot  that  he  was  a 
business  man  who  was  to  look  out  for  his  own  in- 
terests, frankly,  openly,  and  without  affectation. 
When  he  gave  up  his  clerkship  in  the  Assembly, 
his  illegitimate  son,  William  Franklin,  got  the  posi- 
tion. Later  on  he  was  to  take  care  of  his  family  in 
other  ways.  It  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  in 
this  exhibition  of  thrift  something  unpleasant,  nay, 
sordid,  yet  we  can  never  forget  that,  with  all  this 
nepotism,  Franklin  put  the  interests  of  country 
before  his  own.  If,  incidentally,  he  could  benefit 
those  nearest  to  him,  and  do  it  without  dishonour, 
he  seized  the  opportunity.  It  were  better  had  he 
been  less  quick  to  do  so,  but  such  was  the  man,  and 
we  must  judge  him  accordingly,  never  forgetting 
that  in  any  account  between  the  nation  and  himself, 
he  emerged  as  the  creditor  rather  than  as  the  debtor. 
Our  Assemblyman  soon  launched  out  into  a  new 


I754J        The  Servant  of  the  Public  l^i 

role,  that  of  an  ambassador  to  the  Indians.  The 
visit  was  a  sequel  to  the  contest  for  American  su- 
premacy, which  had  been  going  on  for  many  years 
between  Enghmd  and  France.  In  the  then  North- 
west the  French  adventurers,  explorers,  and  fur- 
traders  were  pushing  their  way  insidiously  toward 
the  East,  not  content  with  their  conquests  in  South- 
ern territory  and  the  Canadian  possessions;  a  chain 
of  French  forts  had  been  established  between  Que- 
bec and  New  Orleans,  and  the  valley  of  the  Ohio 
was  threatened.  The  sovereignty  of  England  in 
the  new  continent  was  being  gradually,  but  none 
the  less  surely,  imperilled.  Thus  the  attitude  of  the 
Indians  became  more  and  more  important,  and  it 
was  of  the  greatest  moment  that  everything  should 
be  done  to  check  the  growing  influence  exerted  upon 
so  many  of  them  by  the  daring  subjects  of  Louis 
XV.  It  was  particularly  desirable  to  make  a  new 
treaty  with  the  Ohio  Indians,  and  so  it  came  about 
that  Franklin  and  Isaac  Norris  were  appointed  to 
represent  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  in  treating 
with  these  savages  at  Carlisle.  It  must  have  been 
an  odd,  picturesque  incident,  and  the  author  of  the 
Autobiography  has  left  a  vivid  account  of  it.  The 
Indians  wanted  fire-water,  and  the  commissioners, 
who  were  diplomats  rather  than  temperance  disci- 
ples, promised  them  plenty  of  it  when  the  treaty 
was  concluded.  This  business  was  disposed  of  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  the  Indians  keeping 
sober  for  the  very  simple  reason  that  they  had 
nothing  strong  to  drink. 

"  They  then  claimed  and  received  the  rum  ;  this  was  in  the  after- 


78  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

noon  ;  they  were  near  one  hundred  men,  women  and  children,  and 
were  lodged  in  temporary  cabins,  built  in  the  form  of  a  square,  just 
without  the  town.  In  the  evening,  hearing  a  great  noise  among 
them,  the  commissioners  walked  out  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  We 
found  they  had  made  a  great  bon-fire  in  the  middle  of  the  square  ; 
they  were  all  drunk,  men  and  women,  quarrelling  and  fighting.  Their 
dark-coloured  bodies,  half-naked,  seen  only  by  the  gloomy  light  of  the 
bon-fire,  running  after  and  beating  one  another  with  firebrands,  ac- 
companied by  their  horrid  yellings,  formed  a  scene  the  most  resem- 
bling our  ideas  of  hell  that  could  well  be  imagined  ;  there  was  no 
appeasing  the  tumult,  and  we  retired  to  our  lodging.  At  midnight  a 
number  of  them  came  thundering  at  our  door,  demanding  more  rum, 
of  which  we  took  no  notice." 

The  story  suggests  a  chapter  from  Cooper  rather 
than  a  page  from  an  autobiography.  But  to  con- 
tinue : 

"  The  next  day,  sensible  they  had  misbehaved  in  giving  us  that 
disturbance,  they  sent  three  of  their  old  counsellors  to  make  their 
apology.  The  orator  acknowledged  the  fault,  but  laid  it  upon  the 
rum  ;  and  then  endeavoured  to  excuse  the  rum  by  saying,  '  The  Great 
Spirit,  who  made  all  things,  made  everything  for  some  tise,  and  what- 
ever use  he  designed  anything  for,  that  use  it  should  always  be  put  to. 
Now,  when  he  made  rum,  he  said,  "  Let  this  be  for  the  Indians  to 
get  drunk  with,"  and  it  tnust  be  so.' 

"  And,  indeed,  if  it  be  the  design  of  Providence  to  extirpate  these 
savages  in  order  to  make  room  for  cultivators  of  the  earth,  it  seems 
not  improbable  that  rum  may  be  the  appointed  means.  It  has  already 
annihilated  all  the  tribes  who  formerly  inhabited  the  sea-coast." 

Were  Franklin  alive  to-day,  he  would  have  a  great 
deal  more  data  on  which  to  base  his  reflections  anent 
liquor  and  the  Indians,  As  it  was,  he  never  forgot 
his  experience  at  Carlisle  (it  was  strange  that  he  es- 
caped with  his  life  from  the  yelling,  rum-beseeching 
redskins  who  pounded  at  his  door),  and  subse- 
quently wrote  some  Remarks  Concerning  the  Sav- 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Public  79 

ages  of  NortJi  America  —  a  fine,  satirical  sketch, 
wherein  quiet  flings  at  pale-faced  avarice  and  a  slyly 
humouros  exposition  of  Indian  virtues  combine  to 
puzzle  the  reader  as  to  what  moral  the  author  really 
meant  to  draw.* 

Honours  were  now  falling  fast  upon  the  wise  head 
of  Franklin,  the  greatest  of  them  up  to  that  period 
being  his  appointment  (1753),  in  conjunction  with 
William  Hunter,  to  the  postmaster-generalship  of 
the  colonies.  He  took  up  the  duties  of  the  position 
with  his  accustomed  energy ;  visited  post-offices 
throughout  the  country,  and  instituted  a  number  of 
reforms.  These  reforms  included  an  increase  in  the 
frequency  of  the  mails,  and  in  the  speed  of  the  post- 
riders.  Newspapers  were  carried  at  a  fair  charge, 
instead  of  free,  as  before ;  postmaster  editors  were 
obliged  to  receive  rival  publications;  unclaimed  let- 
ters were  advertised ;  the  large  towns  were  given  a 
penny  post;  the  postage  on  letters  in  general  was 
reduced.  The  crude  state  of  the  postal  department, 
even  after  the  appointment  of  Franklin,  may  be  in- 
ferred from  his  announcement  (1755),  that  to  aid 
trade,  etc.,  he  has  arranged  for  the  winter  northern 
mail  from  Philadelphia  to  New  England,  which 
used  to  set  out  but  once  a  fortnight,  to  start  once  a 
week  all  the  year  round,  "  whereby  answers  may  be 
obtained  to  letters  between  Philadelphia  and  Boston, 
in  three  weeks,  which  used  to  require  six  weeks." 
The  celerity  of  the  new  order  of  things  must  have 
fairly  taken  away  the  breath  of  staid  old  Philadelphia. 

*  This  curious  pamphlet  was  not  published  until   17S4.     It  has 
puzzled  all  of  Franklin's  commentators,  dull  or  wise. 


So  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

Again  we  see  the  unconcealed  desire  to  look  out 
for  family  interests.  William  Franklin  was  made 
controller  of  the  post-office,  and  then  postmaster  of 
Philadelphia.  To  the  latter  position  two  relatives 
would,  in  turn,  cheerfully  succeed.  Here  was 
domestic  affection  with  a  vengeance,  yet  the  Post- 
master-General's solicitude  on  this  score  does  not 
blind  us  to  the  admirable  conduct  of  his  department. 
If  all  officials  were  half  as  energetic  and  valuable,  a 
grateful  public  would  not  growl  at  such  an  exhibi- 
tion of  thoughtfulness. 

In  the  midst  of  his  attention  to  mails,  post-riders, 
and  post-roads,  Franklin  suddenly  loomed  up  as  the 
originator  of  a  scheme  which,  though  it  came  to 
naught,  was  the  prelude,  in  a  certain  sense,  to  the 
union  of  the  American  colonies.  The  union  now 
projected  was  directed,  not  against  the  mother 
country,  but  against  the  alarming  headway  which 
French  aggression  was  making  in  the  British  posses- 
sions of  the  Ohio  region,  Franklin  himself  had 
learned,  on  his  visit  to  Carlisle,  that  French  posts 
were  set  up  at  Erie,  Venango,  and  Waterford,  and 
that  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela  were  threatened 
by  the  Gallic  invaders.  Let  the  onward  march  of 
the  French  continue  at  this  ratio,  and  it  would  only 
become  a  question  of  time  as  to  when  the  English 
settlers  must  be  driven  farther  and  farther  back 
until  the  Atlantic  Ocean  confronted  them.  There 
was  alarm  in  the  colonies,  and  alarm,  too,  in  Eng- 
land. Thus  it  came  about  that  Governor  Dinwiddle, 
of  Virginia,  sent  young  George  Washington,  with  a 
small  party,  out  into  the  wilderness,  for  the  avowed 


17541       The  Servant  of  the  PubHc  8i 

purpose  of  inquirin<^  from  the  commander  of  the 
French  forces  on  the  Ohio  River  his  reasons  for 
entering  the  British  dominions  while  "  a  soHd  peace 
subsisted."  * 

The  adventures  of  the  youth  are  history,  and  we 
have  not  forgotten  the  hardships  of  the  journey,  his 
conference  with  friendly  Indians,  or  his  arrival  at 
Waterford.  Here  stood  a  well-defended  fort,  com- 
manded by  Saint-Pierre,  who  threatened  to  seize 
every  Englishman  found  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio, 
and  who  answered,  when  Washington  sought  to  in- 
quire by  what  right  he  held  the  fort :  "  I  am  here  by 
the  orders  of  my  general,  to  which  I  shall  conform 
with  exactness."  On  Washington's  return  to  Vir- 
ginia, early  in  1754,  the  question  of  resistance  to  the 
French  became  more  urgent.  Why  should  not  the 
colonies  unite  to  repel  the  enemy  ?  That  was  a 
query  in  many  mouths,  and  Governor  Glen,  of 
South  Carolina,  suggested  that  all  the  provincial 
governors  should  meet  in  Virginia,  there  to  decide 
what  supplies  each  colony  must  grant  for  the  carry- 
ing on  of  the  proposed  defensive  warfare.  Events 
came  rapidly  and  ominously.  The  French  were  in 
command  of  Fort  Duquesne,  the  newly  named  post 
captured  from  the  English ;  Washington  had  en- 
joyed his  famous  brush  with  the  French,  wherein  he 
heard  the  bullets  whistle  and  found  "  something 
charming  in  the  sound  "  ;  the  numbers  of  the  enemy 
increased,  and  all  things  pointed  to  a  slow,  but  none 
the  less  certain,  diminution  of  English  prestige  and 

*  See  the  interesting  account  which  Bancroft  gives  of  this  journey, 

History  of  the  United  States,  last  revision,  vol.  ii.,  chap.  v. 
6 


82  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

English    territory    in    America.      The    standard    of 
France  might  in  time  float  over  a  whole  continent. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  Franklin  anxiously 
watched  the  progress  of  affairs,  and  that  no  one 
realised  more  strongly  than  he  the  disadvantage  ac- 
cruing from  the  disunited  condition  of  the  colonies. 
Before  me  now  is  a  faded,  yellow,  but  still  legible 
copy  of  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  for  May  9,  1754, 
wherein  he  sounds  the  note  of  warning. 

"  Friday  last,"  he  chronicles,  "  an  express  arrived  here  from  Major 
Washington,  with  advice  that  Mr.  Ward,  Ensign  of  Captain  Trent's 
company,  was  compelled  to  surrender  his  small  Fort  in  the  Forks  of 
Monongahela  to  the  French,  on  the  i/th  past ;  who  fell  down  from 
Venango  with  a  Fleet  of  360  Battoes  and  Canoes,  upwards  of  1000 
Men,  and  18  Pieces  of  Artillery,  which  they  Planted  against  the  Fort ; 
and  Mr,  Ward  having  but  44  men,  and  no  Cannon  to  make  a  proper 
Defence,  was  obliged  to  surrender  on  summons,  capitulating  to  march 
out  with  their  Arms,  etc.,  and  they  had  accordingly  joined  Major 
Washington,  who  was  advanced  with  three  Companies  of  the  Virginia 
Forces,  as  far  as  the  New  Store  near  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  where 
the  men  were  employed  in  clearing  a  Road  for  the  Cannon,  which 
were  every  Day  expected  with  Col.  Fry  and  the  Remainder  of  the 
Regiment.  .  .  .  The  Indian  chiefs,  however,  have  dispatched 
Messages  to  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  desiring  that  the  English 
would  not  be  discouraged,  but  send  out  their  Warriors  to  join  them, 
and  drive  the  French  out  of  the  Country  before  they  fortify  ;  other- 
wise the  Trade  will  be  lost,  to  their  great  Grief  an  eternal  separation 
made  between  the  Indians  and  their  Brethren  the  English." 

This  news  paragraph,  which  is  quoted  because  it 
shows  so  succinctly  the  precarious  condition  in  which 
the  colonists  on  the  western  border  found  them- 
selves, goes  on  to  say  that,  according  to  rumour, 
more  of  the  French  are  coming  up  the  Ohio,  and 
that  six  hundred  French  Indians — the  invaders  knew 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  PubHc  83 

how  to  win  savage  allies — are  about  to  join  them, 
"  the  design  being  to  establish  themselves,  settle 
their  Indians,  and  build  Forts  just  in  the  Back  of 
our  Settlements  in  all  our  Colonies;  from  which 
Forts,  as  they  did  from  Crown  Point,  they  may 
send  out  their  Parties  to  kill  and  scalp  the  Inhabit- 
ants and  ruin  the  Frontier  Counties."  But  here 
comes  the  key-note  of  the  whole  article: 

"  The  Confidence  of  the  French  in  this  Undertaking  seems  well 
grounded  on  the  present  disunited  state  of  the  British  Colonies,  and 
the  extreme  Difficulty  of  bringing  so  many  different  Governments  and 
Assemblies  to  agree  in  any  speedy  and  effectual  Measures  for  our 
common  Defence  and  Security  ;  while  our  Enemies  have  the  very 
great  Advantage  of  being  under  one  Direction,  with  one  Council, 
and  one  Purse." 

At  the  end  of  the  long  paragraph  is  a  wood-cut 
representing  a  snake  chopped  into  pieces  (each 
piece  typifying  a  colony),  and  beneath  it  the  warn- 
ing, "  Join  or  Die."     A  prophetic  motto. 

The  great  idea  illustrated  by  this  crude  wood-cut 
had  notable  enunciation  from  Franklin  when  he  at- 
tended, in  the  summer  of  1754,  the  convention 
which  commissioners  from  the  several  colonies  held 
at  Albany,  by  direction  of  the  English  Government, 
to  secure  the  alliance  of  the  Six  Nations,  Indians 
whose  help  was  of  the  greatest  necessity  should  an 
open  rupture  arise  between  Great  Britain  and  France. 
It  was  but  natural  that  the  question  of  a  colonial 
union  should  be  discussed,  and  hardly  less  natural 
that  the  fertile-minded  statesman  from  Pennsylvania 
should  have  a  plan  of  his  own  to  put  before  the 
members.     The  scheme  was  elaborately  drawn  up. 


84  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

and  provided  for  a  general  government  administered 
by  a  President-General,  supported  by  the  crown, 
and  by  a  Grand  Council  to  be  elected  from  the  as- 
semblies. While  the  independence  of  each  colony, 
so  far  as  related  to  its  internal  affairs,  was  to  be  main- 
tained, the  President-General  would  be  empowered, 
with  the  consent  of  the  Grand  Council,  to  make 
treaties  with  the  Indians,  conduct  Indian  wars,  levy 
taxes  for  the  support  of  the  general  government, 
and  for  public  defence,  and  to  otherwise  exercise 
important  prerogatives. 

The  plan  had  so  many  virtues  that  it  was  finally 
adopted  by  the  commissioners,  subject,  of  course, 
to  the  approval  of  the  British  Parliament.  Never 
before  had  Franklin  occupied  so  commanding  a 
position  before  his  fellow-colonists  ;  never  before 
had  his  talent  for  civic  law  and  order  been  displayed 
to  such  remarkable  advantage.  Yet  the  union,  as 
he  outlined  it,  was  not  to  meet  with  official  favour. 
"  Its  fate,"  as  he  himself  says,  "  was  singular:  the 
assemblies  did  not  adopt  it,  as  they  all  thought 
there  was  too  much  prc^^'oga/rc'i'  in  it,  and  in  England 
it  was  judged  to  have  too  much  of  the  democratic.''' 

The  chief  fault  seems  to  have  been  that  the  plan 
hinted  at  too  great  centralisation  of  power — or  so, 
at  least,  urged  its  enemies.  From  the  point  of  view 
of  its  American  opponents  such  a  union  might 
detract  from  the  individual  importance  of  each  col- 
ony; from  the  point  of  view  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment the  scheme,  if  logically  carried  out,  was  likely 
to  make  the  united  provinces  too  self-assertive. 
*'  Reflecting  men  in  England,"  observes  Bancroft, 


I754J        The  Servant  of  the  Public  85 

dreaded  American  union  as  the  keystone  of  inde- 
pendence." 

The  project,  therefore,  fell  to  the  ground,  but  it 
remained  for  Franklin  to  give  a  further  unconscious 
hint  of  the  Revolution  by  declaring  war  against  the 
theory  that  England  might  tax  the  Americans,  not- 
withstanding that  they  had  no  representation  in 
Parliament.  This  protest  came  about  through  the 
desire  of  the  home  government  to  substitute  for  his 
plan  of  union  one  of  its  own,  "  whereby,"  as  he 
explained,  "  the  governors  of  the  provinces,  with 
some  members  of  their  respective  councils,  were  to 
meet  and  order  the  raising  of  troops,  building  of 
forts,  etc.,  and  to  draw  on  the  treasury  of  Great 
Britain  for  the  expense,  which  was  afterwards  to  be 
refunded  by  an  act  of  Parliament,  laying  a  tax  on 
America.''  The  British  idea  was  divulged  to  him 
by  Governor  Shirley,  when  Franklin  visited  Boston 
in  the  winter  of  1754.  The  latter's  objections  to  it 
were  immortalised  in  three  noble  letters  which  he 
wrote  to  the  Governor.  In  them  he  clearly  pointed 
out  that  Englishmen  possessed,  supposedly,  an  un- 
doubted right  not  to  be  taxed  but  by  their  own  con- 
sent, given  through  their  representatives;  that  the 
colonies  had  no  representatives  in  Parliament ;  and 
that  to  propose  taxing  them  by  Parliament,  and  to 
refuse  them  the  liberty  of  choosing  a  representative 
Council  to  meet  in  the  colonies,  to  consider  and 
judge  of  the  necessity  of  any  general  tax  and  the 
quantum,  "  shows  a  suspicion  of  their  loyalty  to  the 
crown,  or  of  their  regard  for  their  country,  or  for 
their  common-sense  and  understanding,  which  they 


86  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

have  not  deserved."  Here  the  philosopher  had 
crystallised  into  logical,  sensible  form  a  great  prin- 
ciple of  right  which  would  in  time  form  the  loudest 
war-cry  of  rebellious  America. 

How  changing,  indeed,  is  the  scene,  as  we  follow 
the  man  through  that  wonderful  life  of  which  he 
made  so  much !  One  moment  he  is  calmly  setting 
forth  the  grandest  precepts  of  patriotism,  and  in  the 
next  we  have  him  chatting  gaily  over  his  wine,  and 
getting  in  a  sly  little  joke  about  his  neighbours,  the 
Quakers,  or  indulging  in  a  good-natured  quarrel  with 
Governor  Morris,  the  new  executive  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  Governor  was,  inevitably,  the  creature 
of  the  Penns,  the  proprietors  of  the  province,  and  it 
was  pretty  safe  to  predict  that  as  his  instructions 
were  not  altogether  in  accord  with  the  interests  of 
the  Assembly,  particularly  as  the  proprietaries  in- 
sisted on  having  their  own  estates  exempt  from 
taxation,  the  relations  between  him  and  that  body 
would  not  be  ideal  in  character.  When  Franklin 
first  met  Morris,  who  had  arrived  from  England,  the 
latter  inquired  if  he  was  to  expect  an  uncomfortable 
administration.  "  No,"  said  the  Philadclphian, 
"  you  may,  on  the  contrary,  have  a  very  comfort- 
able one,  if  you  will  only  take  care  not  to  enter  into 
any  dispute  with  the  Assembly,"  to  which  the  new 
Governor  pleasantly  responded:  "  How  can  you 
advise  my  avoiding  disputes  ?  You  know  I  love 
disputing;  it  is  one  of  my  greatest  pleasures;  how- 
ever, to  show  the  regard  I  have  for  your  counsel,  I 
promise  you  I  will,  if  possible,  avoid  them."  The 
promise  was  not  kept ;  Morris    and  the  Assembly 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Public  87 

waged  bitter  warfare,  and  one  of  the  men  appointed 
by  the  legislators  to  oppose  him  was  Franklin,  who 
had  to  draw  up  many  addresses  of  defiance.  The 
Governor  must  have  had  an  abiding  affection  for  his 
official  enemy,  for  the  two  often  dined  together, 
instead,  as  was  to  be  expected,  of  passing  each  other 
on  the  street  without  a  look  of  recognition. 

During  these  years  of  political  activity,  which 
would  have  sufificed  to  monopolise  the  time  and 
energies  of  almost  anyone  else,  Franklin  had  been 
able  to  bestir  himself  in  other  and  very  important 
directions.  He  published  a  short-lived  magazine 
(1740-41)  ;  founded  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  (1743)*;  became  instrumental  in  the  open- 
ing of  an  academy  which  is  now  considered  the 
lineal  ancestor  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
(1749-50)  ;  assisted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital  ;  received  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  from  Harvard  and  Yale  Colleges, 
and  excited  scientific  Europe  by  those  wonderful 
electrical  discoveries,  of  which  mention  will  be  made 
in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

The  magazine  episode,  which  is  not  hinted  at  in 
the  AiitohiograpJiy  (probably  because  it  was  an  un- 
pleasant theme),  involved  Franklin  in  a  quarrel,  and, 
unlike  most  of  his  plans,  resulted  in  nothing.  He 
had  made  up  his  mind— not  so  canny  a  mind  in  this 
instance  as  usual — that  the  time  was  ripe  for  the 
publication  of  a  magazine  in  the  American  colonies, 
and  he  went  so  far  as  to  engage  an  editor  for  the 


*  Not  in  1744,  the  date  wliicli  Franklin  incorrectly  gives  in  his 
A  utohiography. 


88  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

venture.  John  Webbe  was  the  fortunate  man 
selected,  and  so  enterprising  and  dishonest  a  gentle- 
man was  he  that  he  suddenly  came  out  in  the  rival 
paper,  the  Mercury,  with  the  announcement  that  he 
would  start  a  magazine  of  his  own.  It  was  history 
repeating  itself  ;  Webbe  was  another  Keimer. 
Franklin,  nothing  daunted,  issued  a  prospectus  for 
a  General  Magazine  and  Historieal  CJironiclc  for 
all  the  British  Plantations  in  Anieriea  (what  a  title 
was  that  for  pomposity!),  and  announced  that  in 
spite  of  the  perfidy  of  one  to  whom  he  had  confided 
he  would  persevere  with  the  scheme  as  originally 
proposed.  Then  Mr.  Webbe  assailed  Franklin 
through  the  Mercnry ;  Bradford,  the  printer,  was 
drawn  into  the  controversy,  and  finally  the  charge 
was  made  against  our  philosopher  that  as  post- 
master he  prohibited  the  carrying,  by  the  post- 
riders,  of  the  Gazette' s  rival,  the  aforesaid  Mercnry. 
Franklin,  thus  prodded,  defends  himself  in  an 
article  in  the  Gazette  of  December  ii  (1740). 

"  The  Publick,"  he  observes,  solemnly,  "  has  been  entertained  for 
these  three  weeks  past,  with  angry  Papers,  written  expressly  against 
me,  and  published  in  the  Mercury.  The  two  first  I  utterly  neg- 
lected, as  believing  that  both  the  Facts  therein  stated  and  the  extra- 
ordinary Reasonings  upon  them,  might  be  safely  enough  left  to 
themselves  without  any  Animadversion  ;  and  I  have  the  Satisfaction 
to  find  that  the  Event  has  answered  my  Expectations  :  But  the  last 
my  Friends  think  't  is  necessary  I  should  take  some  Notice  of,  as  it 
contains  an  Accusation  that  has  at  least  a  Shew  of  Probability,  being 
printed  by  a  Person  to  whom  it  particularly  relates,  who  could  not 
but  know  whether  it  was  true  or  false  ;  and  who,  having  still  some 
Reputation  to  guard,  it  may  be  presumed  could  by  no  means  be  pre- 
vailed on  to  publish  a  Thing  as  Truth,  which  was  contrary  to  his  own 
knowledge," 


1754]        The  Servant  of  the  Public  89 

The  writer  went  on  to  admit  that  he  had,  for  up- 
ward of  a  twelvemonth,  been  obhged  to  deny  the 
Mercury  the  privilege  of  the  post,  by  the  positive 
commands  of  Colonel  Spotswood,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral of  the  colonies.     He  then  followed  this  up  by 
inserting  an   interesting,    if  somewhat  sensational, 
letter  from   Spotswood,   in  which  that  functionary 
wrote  Franklin  (October  12,  1739),  that  he  had  not 
been  able  to  obtain  any  account  from  Bradford,  as 
postmaster  at  Philadelphia,  from  midsummer,  1734. 
This  warfare  is  not  agreeable  to  dwell  upon,  whether 
viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  Bradford,  of  Webbe, 
or  of  Franklin.      It  might,  however,  be  said,  in  be- 
half of  Franklin,  that  the  criticism  in  the  Mercury 
had  goaded  him  to  the  quick,  impeaching,  as  it  did, 
his  avowed   intention  of  allowing  his  rivals'  news- 
papers to  circulate  through  the  mails  without  hin- 
drance.     He  had,  as  we  have  seen,  put  this  generous 
reform  into  effect  when  he  became  the  local  post- 
master, and  it  was  only  countermanded  by  the  angry 
orders  of  Colonel  Spotswood.     Nay,  Franklin  had 
even  gone  so  far,  after  the  arrival  of  the  letter,  as 
to  allow  the  Mercury  to  be  secretly  given  to  the 
post-riders,    for  distribution.     Yet  the  pen-and-ink 
controversy  offers  nothing  but  unpleasantness,  nor 
is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  respective  magazines 
of  Webbe  and  the  postmaster  had  a  short  existence. 
They  were  stupid  publications,  even  for  those  formal, 
ponderous  days,  and  died  from   the  journalistic  in- 
anition which  comes  of  public  neglect. 

The   glimpses  of  Franklin  are  brighter  in  other 
paths  of  effort.     Take  him,  for  instance,  when  he  is 


90  Benjamin  Franklin  [1736- 

founding  that  academy  which  is  generally  accepted 
as  the  origin  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  de- 
spite the  assertion,  in  some  quarters,  that  the  great 
institution  near  the  Schuylkill  dates  further  back,  to 
a  charity-school  project.*  Then,  it  is  attractive  to 
think  of  him  as  he  busied  himself  with  Dr.  Bond,  in 
working  for  the  new  hospital — now  an  old  but  pro- 
gressive hospital — which  has  done  so  much,  for  near- 
ly a  century  and  a  half,  to  relieve  sick  or  maimed 
humanity.  It  has  been  argued,  to  be  sure,  that  in 
securing  a  legislative  appropriation  for  the  enterprise 
Franklin  acted  with  a  slyness  a  trifle  too  Machiavel- 
lian to  be  approved.  Perhaps  his  enemies  are  not 
without  warrant  for  their  criticism,  but  let  the  reader 
hear  the  story  in  his  own  words,  and  determine  how 
far  they  care  to  blame  his  enthusiasm  in  aiding  what 
is  now  one  of  the  greatest  hospitals  in  the  world: 

"  The  subscriptions  afterwards  [/.  e.,  after  Franklin  had  taken 
hold  of  the  project]  were  more  free  and  generous  ;  but,  beginning  to 
flag,  I  saw  they  would  be  insufficient  without  some  assistance  from 
the  Assembly,  and  therefore  proposed  to  petition  for  it,  which  was 
done.  The  country  members  did  not  at  first  relish  the  project ;  they 
objected  that  it  could  only  be  serviceable  to  the  city,  and  therefore 
the  citizens  alone  should  be  at  the  expense  of  it ;  and  they  doubted 
whether  the  citizens  themselves  generally  approved  of  it.  My  allega- 
tion on  the  contrary,  that  it  met  with  such  approbation  as  to  leave  no 
doubt  of  our  being  able  to  raise  two  thousand  pounds  by  voluntary 
donations,  they  considered  as  a  most  extravagant  supposition,  and 
utterly  impossible. 

"On  this  I  formed  my  plan,  and,  asking  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill 
for  incorporating  the  contributors  according  to  the  prayer  of  their 


*  Readers  interested  in  the  "  pedigree"  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania should  consult  the  supplementary  chapters  written  by  the 
late  Dr.  Frederick  P.  Stone  for  Dr.  Wood's  history  of  that  institution. 


1754]       The  Servant  of  the  Public  91 

petition,  and  granting  them  a  blank  sum  of  money,  which  leave  was 
obtained  chiefly>on  tlie  consideration  that  the  House  could  throw  the 
bill  out  if  they  did  not  like  it,  I  drew  it  so  as  to  make  the  important 
clause  a  conditional  one,  viz.  :  '  And  lie  it  enacted,  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  that  when  the  said  contributors  shall  have  met  and  chosen 
their  managers  and  treasurer,  and  sliall  have  raised  by  t/wir  contribu- 
tions a  capital  stock  of  .  .  .  value  .  .  .  and  shall  make  the 
same  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  speaker  of  the  Assembly  for  the 
time  being,  that  then  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said  speaker, 
and  he  is  hereby  required,  to  sign  an  order  on  the  provincial  treasurer 
for  the  payment  of  two  thousand  pounds,  in  two  yearly  payments,  to 
the  treasurer  of  the  said  hospital,  to  be  applied  to  the  founding, 
building  and  finishing  of  the  same.' 

"This  condition  carried  the  bill  through;  for  the  members  who 
had  opposed  the  grant,  and  now  conceived  they  might  have  the 
credit  of  being  charitable  without  the  expense,  agreed  to  its  passage  ; 
and  then,  in  soliciting  subscriptions  among  the  people,  we  urged  the 
conditional  promise  of  the  law  as  an  additional  motive  to  give,  since 
every  man's  donation  would  be  doubled  ;  thus  the  clause  worked  both 
ways.  The  subscriptions  accordingly  soon  exceeded  the  requisite 
sum,  and  we  claimed  and  received  the  public  gift,  which  enabled  us 
to  carry  the  design  into  execution.  .  .  .  I  do  not  remember  any 
of  my  political  manoeuvres,  the  success  of  which  gave  me  at  the  time 
more  pleasure,  or  wherein,  after  thinking  of  it,  I  more  easily  excused 
myself  for  having  made  some  use  of  cunning." 

Cunning  it  was,  without  doubt,  but  many  a  weary, 
pain-racked  inmate  of  the  hospital  has  had  reason  to 
bless  an  innocent  artifice  which  produced  such  a 
noble  result.  If  the  cunning  of  all  public  men  went 
no  further  than  this,  the  book  of  politics  would  read 
like  a  benign  fairy-tale. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE   PHILOSOPHER   IN    MARTIAL   MOOD 


1755-I756 

HEN  General  Braddock,  brave,  blus- 
tering, and  foolishly  confident,  came 
over  to  Virginia  in  the  winter  of 
1754-55,  with  two  regiments  of  Eng- 
lish regulars,  for  the  purpose  of  cap- 
turing Fort  Duquesne,  vanquishing  the  French 
invaders,  and  restoring  the  ascendency  of  Great 
Britain  upon  the  American  continent,  Franklin  be- 
came one  of  his  most  valuable  henchmen  and  gave 
him  some  good  advice  which,  had  the  officer  taken, 
would  have  saved  the  latter  from  death  and  disgrace. 
But  Braddock  belonged  to  a  stiff-necked  generation  ; 
he  had  been  sent  to  put  an  end  forever  to  French 
aggression,  and  he  intended  to  do  it  in  his  own  way. 
He  knew  little  about  the  dangers  lurking  in  the 
western  wilderness,  and  nothing  about  Indian  war- 
fare, but  what  mattered  that  ?  Was  he  not  an 
English  soldier,  fit  to  cope  with  barbarians  ?  He 
was,  in  fine,  a  martinet,  with  more  than  the  custom- 
ary obstinacy  of  his  kind,  and  he  proposed  to  con- 
ga 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  93 

quer  the  enemy,  Gaul  or  Indian,  on  purely  scientific 
principles,  exactly  as  if  he  were  to  deal  with  an 
army  of  civilised  Europe* 

No  sooner  did  Braddock  arrive  in  Virginia,  and 
begin  to  prepare  his  plan  of  campaign,  than  Penn- 
sylvania fell  under  the  ban  of  his  displeasure.  There 
had  been  the  usual  contest  between  the  Governor 
and  the  Assembly,  with  a  reiteration  of  the  right  of 
the  Penns  to  have  their  estates  exempted  from  tax- 
ation, and,  as  a  result,  nothing  had  ensued  but 
disagreement  and  unsatisfactory  legislation.  Penn- 
sylvania did,  to  be  sure,  borrow  i^SOOO  currency,  to 
be  expended  under  her  own  direction  in  defending 
the  colony,  but  she  had  failed  to  raise  a  provincial 
force  to  operate,  as  was  desired,  under  Braddock. 
Domestic  wrangling  rather  than  a  lack  of  loyalty  was 
the  cause  of  this  tardiness,  but  the  General  was  too 
short-sighted,  or  too  pig-headed,  to  make  any  dis- 
tinction in  the  matter.  He  lost  his  temper,  grew 
angry  at  the  slowness  of  some  of  the  colonies  to 
come  to  his  help  in  the  way  he  expected,  and  acted 
throughout  with  exactly  that  want  of  tact  to  be 
looked  for  in  a  man  of  his  stupid,  burly  character. 

"  Vou  may  assure  your  Assembly,"  he  savagely  informs  Governor 
Morris,  "  I  shall  have  regard  to  the  different  behaviour  of  the  several 
colonies,  and  shall  regulate  their  quarters  accordingly,  and  that  I  will 
repair,  by  unpleasant  methods,  what  for  the  character  and  honour  of 
the  y\ssemblies  I  should  be  much  happier  to  see  cheerfully  supplied." 

Would  the  General  use  Pennsylvania  as  a  province 


*"  Desperate  in  his  fortune,  brutal  in  his  behaviour,  obstinate  in 
his  sentiments,"  says  Walpole,  "  he  was  still  intrepid  and  capable." 


94  Benjamin  Franklin  [nss- 

to  be  conquered  and  pillaged,  rather  than  as  an  ally  ? 
That  was  the  question  which  some  of  her  inhabitants 
asked  themselves,  and  the  fact  that  Braddock  be- 
lieved the  Pennsylvanians  to  be  selling  provisions  to 
the  French  did  not  tend  to  reassure  them.*  He 
went  so  far  as  to  write  home  to  Lord  Halifax  that 
the  inhabitants  of  these  colonies  in  general  have 
shown  much  negligence  for  His  Majesty's  service 
and  their  own  interests,"  and  after  excepting  Vir- 
ginia from  this  censure  he  added  : 

"  I  cannot  sufficiently  express  my  indignation  against  the  provinces 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  vi'hose  interests  being  alike  concerned 
in  the  event  of  this  expedition,  and  much  more  so  than  any  other  on 
this  continent,  refuse  to  contribute  anything  towards  the  project ;  and 
what  they  propose  is  made  upon  no  other  terms  than  such  as  are 
altogether  contrary  to  the  King's  prerogatives  and  to  the  instructions 
he  has  sent  their  governors." 

Then,  in  an  angry  spirit  of  retaliation,  the  writer 
urges  "  the  necessity  of  laying  a  tax  upon  all  His 
Majesty's  dominions  in  America." 

It  cannot  be  forgotten  that  Braddock,  impatient 
and  overbearing  as  he  was,  had  ground  for  com- 
plaint, from  the  British  point  of  view.      Several  of 

*  When  the  prospect  of  a  war  between  the  two  countries  (England 
and  France)  was  imminent,  and  the  French  in  Canada  were  anxious 
to  buy  in  a  store  of  provisions,  the  commercial  colonies  of  New 
York,  Rhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts  hastened  to  supply  them. 
Within  three  months  of  the  first  battle,  no  less  than  forty  English 
vessels  lay  at  one  time  in  the  harbour  of  Louisbourg.  It  is  proper 
to  say  that  Pennsylvania  was  not  otherwise  engaged  in  this  traffic 
than  in  selling  flour  to  the  merchants  of  other  colonies,  who  pursued 
it  until  stopped  by  the  stringent  enactments  of  their  own  legislatures. 
The  History  of  an  Expedition  against  Fort  DuQuesne,  by  Winthrop 
Sargent. 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  95 

the  legislatures  had,  indeed,  voted  appropriations 
for  the  common  defence,  but  the  money  was,  with 
the  exception  of  South  Carolina's  contribution, 
spent  under  the  direction  of  the  several  provinces. 
There  was  patriotism,  but  no  unison,  and  to  a  man 
of  the  General's  temper  the  situation  must  have 
been  exasperating.  How  different  might  have  been 
the  state  of  affairs  and  the  result  to  the  French,  had 
the  English  Government  shown  the  courage  to 
sanction  the  union  of  the  colonies  as  proposed  by 
Franklin! 

Here  the  philosopher  looms  up  again  in  a  meeting 
with  a  man  who  of  all  persons  resembled  him  the 
least — Braddock  himself.  Franklin  and  Braddock 
face  to  face — that  is  a  picturesque  contrast  which 
has  always  seemed  one  of  the  most  bizarre  incidents 
of  colonial  history,  and  even  Fiction,  as  represented 
by  the  imperishable  Thackeray,  has  sought  to  im- 
mortalise it.  Braddock,  the  beefy  example  of  all 
that  is  dullest  in  the  English  nature,  and  Franklin, 
the  example  of  all  that  is  most  subtle  in  the  same 
nature!  Not  only  greeting  each  other,  too,  but 
getting  congenial  into  the  bargain  (trust  our  Benja- 
min for  that),  and  having  many  a  pleasant  talk  with 
Major  Washington,  who  was  far  better  suited  to 
have  command  of  the  expedition  than  was  the  ill- 
fated  disciplinarian  from  Britain. 

It  was  time,  indeed,  that  the  great  Pennsylvanian 
should  carry  out  the  request  of  the  Assembly  that 
he  see  Braddock,  and  remove,  if  possible,  the  preju- 
dices which  the  latter  had  conceived  against  the 
province.     That  was  a  hard  thing  to  do,  but  if  the 


96  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

task  was  to  be  attempted  not  a  moment  must  be 
lost.  St.  Clair,  Braddock's  Quartermaster-General, 
was  already  threatening  to  invade  Pennsylvania, 
where  his  army  would  confiscate  waggons,  horses, 
and  cattle,  and  burn  houses;  he  announced  that  if 
the  French  defeated  them,  owing  to  the  delay  of  the 
province,  he  would  with  his  drawn  sword  march 
through  the  country  and  treat  the  inhabitants  as  a 
"  parcel  of  traitors."  Bullying,  fire-eating  words, 
but  their  sound  was  not  comforting. 

How  was  Franklin  to  accomplish  his  delicate  mis- 
sion ?  To  go  boldly  as  an  ambassador  from  the 
hated  province  might  expose  him  to  insult.  Some 
other  method  of  approach  to  the  English  Mogul  was 
necessary.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  that  the  en- 
voy should  go  in  the  capacity  of  Postmaster-General, 
"  under  the  guise  of  proposing  to  settle  with  him  the 
mode  of  conducting  with  most  celerity  and  certainty 
the  despatches  between  him  and  the  governors  of 
the  several  provinces."  It  was  at  Fredericktown, 
then,  that  the  traveller  found  Braddock,  now  fretting 
and  fuming  for  the  return  of  the  parties  which  had 
been  sent  out  to  collect  waggons  from  the  farmers 
of  Maryland  and  Virginia.  Not  a  very  propitious 
moment  in  which  to  approach  the  martinet,  but  the 
thing  had  to  be  done,  and  if  we  are  to  judge  from 
results  the  task  of  conversion  was  accomplished 
with  the  rarest  finesse.  The  General  had  plenty  of 
oaths,  no  doubt,  for  the  unpatriotic  conduct  of 
Pennsylvania.  Why,  he  asked,  had  the  province 
refused  his  army  waggons,  horses,  and  food,  refused 
them,  too,  a  road  from  the  camp  to  her  back  settle- 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  97 

mciits,  and  otherwise  played  the  part  of  a  lukewarm, 
not  to  say  disaffected,  colony  ?  What  Franklin  an- 
swered to  this  torrent  of  invective  we  know  not  in 
plain,  set  terms,  but  we  do  know  that  he  said 
enough,  during  the  dinners  which  he  and  his  son 
William  took  with  the  commanding  officer,  to  re- 
move "  all  his  prejudices."  No  doubt  he  placed 
strong  emphasis  on  that  ;^50C)0  which  the  province 
had  authorised  for  the  general  cause — to  be  spent 
under  her  own  supervision.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  there  had  been  little  in  the  conduct  of  Penns}-1- 
vania  to  impress  with  favour  the  arbitrary  mind  of 
Braddock,  and  so  much  the  more,  therefore,  shines 
out  the  persuasive  ability  of  her  champion.  With 
a  poor  case  to  start  with,  he  yet  won  over  to  his 
view  one  of  the  most  obstinate  men  of  the  age. 

Having  succeeded  in  this  difficult  enterprise  the 
Postmaster-General  was  about  to  return  to  Philadel- 
phia, when  the  waggon-hunting  parties  arrived. 
Braddock  was  on  tiptoe  of  expectation  to  know  the 
result.  He  did  not  have  to  wait  long;  twenty-five 
waggons,  not  all  of  them  in  serviceable  condition, 
were  soon  counted.  What  a  "  scene  "  there  must 
have  been !  "  The  General  and  all  the  officers  were 
surprised,  declared  the  expedition  was  then  at  an 
end,  being  impossible,  and  exclaimed  against  the 
Ministers  for  ignorantly  landing  them  in  a  country 
destitute  of  the  means  of  conveying  their  stores, 
baggage,  etc.,  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
waggons  being  necessary."  Whereupon  P^ranklin 
observed  that  it  was  a  pity  the  regiments  had  not 
been    landed   in    Pennsylvania,    as   in  that  country 


9^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

almost  every  farmer  had  his  own  waggon.  This 
seemed  as  a  ray  of  hope  to  Braddock,  who  ex- 
claimed, "  Then  you,  sir,  who  are  a  man  of  interest 
there,  can  probably  procure  them  for  us;  and  I  beg 
you  will  undertake  it." 

The  Postmaster-General,  ever  business-like,  at 
once  asked  what  terms  would  be  offered  the  owners 
of  the  waggons.  It  was  suggested  that  he  should 
put  on  paper  the  terms  he  thought  necessary.  This 
was  done,  and  after  the  scheme,  as  he  outlined  it, 
was  duly  approved,  Franklin  journeyed  back  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  issued  from  Lancaster,  under 
date  of  April  26,  1755,  an  "  advertisement  "  asking 
for  a  hundred  and  fifty  waggons,  with  four  horses  to 
each  waggon,  and  numerous  saddle-horses,  all  for 
the  services  of  his  Majesty's  forces.  There  was  to 
be  paid  for  the  use  of  each  waggon,  with  four  good 
horses  and  a  driver,  fifteen  shillings  per  diem,  with 
damages  in  case  of  their  loss  in  the  service.  The 
advertisement  was  accompanied  by  an  address  "  To 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Counties  of  Lancaster,  York, 
and  Cumberland,"  which  was  intended  to  stiffen  the 
patriotic  backbone  of  Pennsylvanians,  and  to  appeal 
to  their  sense  of  fear. 

"  Friends  and  Countrymen,"  Franklin  loftily  began.  "  Being  oc- 
casionally at  the  camp  at  Frederic  a  few  days  since,  I  found  the 
general  and  officers  extremely  exasperated  on  account  of  their  not 
being  supplied  with  horses  and  carriages  which  had  been  expected 
from  this  province,  as  most  able  to  furnish  them  ;  but,  through  tlie 
dissensions  between  our  governor  and  Assembly,  money  had  not 
been  provided,  nor  any  steps  taken  for  that  purpose.  It  was  pro- 
posed to  send  an  armed  force  immediately  into  these  counties,  to 
seize  as  many  of  the  best  carriages  and  horses  as  should  be  wanted, 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  99 

and  compel  as  many  persons  into  tlic  service  as  would  be  necessary 
to  drive  and  take  care  of  them." 

After  this  adroit  beginning,  wherein  the  crafty 
writer  hints  at  what  might  have  happened,  he  al- 
ludes, in  apparent  innocence,  to  the  inconveniences 
of  such  a  raid,  and  then  dwells  upon  the  money  to 
be  obtained  by  the  inhabitants  through  the  hire  of 
their  waggons  and  horses — to  be  paid  in  "  silver  and 
gold  of  the  King's  money." 

"  If,"  he  says,  "  you  are  really,  as  I  believe  you  are,  good  and  loyal 
subjects  to  his  majesty,  you  may  now  do  a  most  acceptable  service, 
and  make  it  easy  to  yourselves ;  for  three  or  four  of  such  as  can  not 
separately  spare  from  the  business  of  their  plantations  a  waggon  and 
four  horses  and  a  driver,  may  do  it  together,  one  furnishing  the  wag- 
gon, another  one  or  two  horses,  and  another  the  driver,  and  divide 
the  pay  proportionably  between  you  ;  but  if  you  do  not  this  service 
to  your  king  and  country  voluntarily,  when  such  good  pay  and  reason- 
able terms  are  offered  to  you,  your  loyalty  will  be  strongly  suspected. 
The  King's  business  must  be  done  ;  so  many  brave  troops,  come  so 
far  for  your  defence,  must  not  stand  idle  through  your  backwardness 
to  do  what  may  be  reasonably  expected  from  you  ;  waggons  and 
horses  must  be  had ;  violent  measures  will  probably  be  used,  and 
you  will  be  left  to  seek  for  a  recompense  where  you  can  find  it,  and 
your  case,  perhaps,  be  little  pitied  or  regarded." 

There  is  almost  a  tyrannic  ring  about  this  pro- 
clamation, but  the  writer  thereof  had  pretty  good 
reason  to  believe  that  to  play  a  bit  upon  the  fears  of 
the  farmers  would  help,  as  much  as  an  appeal  to 
patriotism,  to  unlock  the  doors  of  their  barns.  And 
he  closes  in  this  laconic  but  terrifying  fashion : 

"  I  have  no  particular  interest  in  this  affair,  as,  except  the  satis- 
faction of  endeavouring  to  do  good,  I  shall  have  only  my  labour  for  my 
pains.     If  this  method  of  bt)taining  the  waggons  and  horses  is  not 


loo  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

likely  to  succeed,  I  am  obliged  to  send  word  to  the  general  in  four- 
teen days  ;  and  I  suppose  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  the  hussar,  with  a  body 
of  soldiers,  will  immediately  enter  the  province  for  the  purpose, 
which  I  shall  be  sorry  to  hear,  because  I  am  very  sincerely  and  truly 
your  friend  and  well-wisher. 

"  B.  Franklin." 


As  it  was  St.  Clair,  as  before  noted,  who  threat- 
ened to  treat  the  Pennsylvanians  as  "  a  parcel  of 
traitors,"  the  bringing  in  of  his  name  was  somewhat 
of  a  master-stroke,  albeit  a  cruel  one.  To  add  to 
the  strength  of  his  call  for  help  Franklin  gave  his 
personal  bond  for  the  performance  of  the  promises 
of  pay  and  damages  set  forth  in  the  advertisement, 
and  he  also  loaned,  from  his  own  purse,  upwards  of 
two  hundred  pounds  to  supplement  the  seven  or 
eight  hundred  pounds  given  him  by  Braddock  as 
advance  money.  In  two  weeks  the  hundred  and 
fifty  waggons,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
carrying  horses,  were  off  for  the  camp,  and  the  de- 
lighted General  would  write  home  that  Franklin's 
service  was  "  almost  the  only  instance  of  address 
and  fidelity  "  which  he  had  seen  in  all  the  provinces. 

There  is  a  colour  and  vividness  in  all  this  Brad- 
dock-Franklin  episode  to  which  the  historian,  who 
is  apt  to  regard  facts  more  than  effect,  has  never 
done  justice.  Thackeray,  when  he  came  to  write 
TJic  Virginians,  saw  how  the  intimacy  of  the  pair 
could  be  turned  to  artistic  advantage,  and  he  has 
left  us  as  attractive  a  bit  of  description  as  ever 
graced  a  novel.  It  is  fiction,  with  a  few  errors,  but 
for  all  that  the  scene  brings  us  closer  to  reality  than 
the   dry-as-dust   data   of    a    hundred    biographers. 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  loi 

Braddock  is  riding  in  state  to  visit  Madam  Esmond, 
with  draj^oons  in  front  and  Captain  Talmadge  trot- 
ting by  the  side  of  the  coach. 

"Major  Danvers,  aide-de-camp,  sat  in  the  front  of  the  carriage 
with  the  little  postmaster  from  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Franklin,  who, 
printer's  boy  as  he  had  been,  was  a  wonderful  shrewd  person,  as 
his  Excellency  and  the  gentlemen  of  his  family  were  fain  to  acknowl- 
edge, having  a  quantity  of  the  most  curious  information  respecting 
the  colony,  and  regarding  England,  too,  where  Mr.  Franklin  had 
been  more  than  once.*  '  'T  was  extraordinary  how  a  person  of  such 
humble  origin  should  have  acquired  such  a  variety  of  learning  and 
such  a  politeness  of  breeding,  too,  Mr.  Franklin  ! '  his  Excellency 
was  pleased  to  observe,  touching  his  hat  graciously  to  the  postmaster. 

"  The  postmaster  bowed,  said  it  had  been  his  occasional  good- 
fortune  to  fall  into  the  company  of  gentlemen  like  his  Excellency, 
and  that  he  had  taken  the  advantage  of  his  opportunity  to  study  their 
honours'  manners,  and  adapt  himself  to  them  as  far  as  he  might.  As 
for  education,  he  could  not  boast  much  of  that — his  father  being  but 
in  straightened  circumstances,  and  the  advantages  small  in  his  native 
country  of  New  England  :  but  he  had  done  to  the  utmost  of  his 
power,  and  gathered  what  he  could — he  knew  nothing  like  what  they 
had  in  England. 

'"Mr.  Braddock  burst  out  laughing,  and  said,  '  as  for  education, 
there  were  gentlemen  of  the  army,  by  George,  who  did  n't  know 
whether  they  should  spell  bull  with  two  b's  or  one.  He  had  heard 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough  was  no  special  good  penman.  He  had  not 
the  honour  of  serving  under  that  noble  commander — his  Grace  was 
before  his  time — but  he  thrashed  the  French  soundly,  although  he 
was  no  scholar.' 

"  Mr.  Franklin  said  he  was  aware  of  both  those  facts. 

"  'Nor  is  my  Duke  [Duke  of  Cumberland,  Braddock's  patron]  a 
scholar,'  went  on  Mr.  Braddock — '  aha,  Mr.  Postmaster,  you  have 
heard  that  too, — I  see,  by  the  wink  in  your  eye.' 

"  Mr.  Franklin  instantly  withdrew  the  obnoxious  or  satirical  wink 
in  his  eye,  and  looked  into  the  general's  jolly  round  face  with  a  pair 


*  Thackeray  was  mistaken  in  this,  as  we  know  ;   up  to  that  time 
Franklin  had  been  in  England  but  once. 


I02  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

of  orbs  as  innocent  as  a  baby's.  '  He  's  no  scholar,  but  he  is  a  match 
for  any  French  general  that  ever  swallowed  the  English  for  fricassee 
de  craupaud.  He  saved  the  crown  for  the  best  of  Kings,  his  royal 
father,  his  most  gracious  Majesty,  King  George.' 

"Off  went  Mr.  Franklin's  hat  and  from  his  large  buckled  wig 
escaped  a  great  halo  of  powder." 

"  '  You  shall  drink  his  health  to-day,  Postmaster.  He  is  the  best 
of  masters,  the  best  of  friends,  the  best  of  sons  to  his  royal  old 
father  ;   the  best  of  gentlemen  that  ever  wore  an  epaulet.' 

"  '  Epaulets  are  quite  out  of  my  way,  sir,'  says  Mr.  Franklin, 
laughing.     '  You  know  I  live  in  a  Quaker  City.' 

"  '  Of  course  they  are  out  of  your  way,  my  good  friend.  Every 
man  to  his  business.  You,  and  gentlemen  of  your  class,  to  your 
books,  and  welcome.  We  don't  forbid  you  ;  we  encourage  you.  We, 
to  fight  the  enemy  and  govern  the  country.  Hey,  gentlemen  ?  I^ord  ! 
what  roads  you  have  in  this  colony,  and  how  this  confounded  coach 
plunges !  Who  have  we  here  with  the  two  negro  boys  in  livery  ? 
He  rides  a  good  gelding.' 

"  '  It  is  Mr.  Washington,'  says  the  aide-de-camp. 

"  '  I  would  like  him  for  a  corporal  of  the  Horse  Grenadiers,'  said 
the  General.  '  He  has  a  good  figure  on  a  horse.  He  knows  the 
country,  too,  Mr.  Franklin.' 

"  '  Yes,  indeed.' 

"  'And  is  a  monstrous  genteel  young  man,  considering  the  oppor- 
tunities he  has  had.  I  should  have  thought  he  had  the  polish  of 
Europe,  by  George,  I  should.' 

"  '  He  does  his  best,'  says  Mr.  Franklin,  looking  innocently  at  the 
stout  chief,  the  exemplar  of  English  elegance,  who  sat  swagging 
from  one  side  to  the  other  of  the  carriage,  his  face  as  scarlet  as  his 
coat — swearing  at  every  word  ;  ignorant  on  every  point  off  parade, 
except  the  merits  of  a  bottle  and  the  looks  of  a  woman  ;  not  of  high 
birth,  yet  absurdly  proud  of  his  no-ancestry  ;  brave  as  a  bull-dog ; 
savage,  lustful,  prodigal,  generous  ;  gentle  in  soft  moods ;  easy  of 
love  and  laughter  ;  dull  of  wit ;  utterly  unread  ;  believing  his  country 
the  first  in  the  world,  and  he  as  good  a  gentleman  as  any  in  it." 

Thackeray  was  not  an  historian  (though  he  did 
impale  the  "  Four  Georges  "  on  the  spikes  of  his 


i75(^]  In  Martial  Mood  103 

satire),  yet  this  glimpse  of  Braddock  and  the  "little 
postmaster  "  brings  us  nearer  to  these  two  worthies 
than  pages  of  commonplace  detail.  In  several  in- 
stances the  author  has  gotten  away  from  fact,  as 
when  he  applies  to  Franklin  the  diminutive  adjec- 
tive, but  in  spirit  and  general  truth  of  perspective 
the  description  is  admirable. 

Those  must  have  been  attractive  experiences  of 
camp  life  for  our  philosopher.  Thoroughly  did  he 
enjoy  them,  and  none  the  less  so,  probably,  because 
of  the  important  part  he  played  in  the  scene.  Once, 
at  the  regimental  mess,  Colonel  Dunbar  waxed 
pathetic  over  the  poverty  of  the  subaltern  officers, 
who  could  ill  afford  to  purchase  in  so  dear-priced  a 
country  the  stores  needful  for  their  long  march 
through  the  wilderness.  The  Postmaster-General 
was  all  sympathy,  and  the  next  morning  he  wrote 
home  suggesting  that  the  Assembly  should  make 
some  appropriate  presents  to  the  young  men.  Wil- 
liam Franklin,  who  was  doubtless  made  much  of  by 
the  subalterns,  and  knew  their  little  tastes,  drew  up 
a  list  which  his  father  enclosed  in  the  letter,  and  in 
the  course  of  time  twenty  parcels  (each  parcel  placed 
on  a  horse  which  was  intended  as  a  present  for 
one  officer)  arrived  at  camp.  There  were  tongues, 
sugar,  cheese,  tea,  coffee,  and  much  else,  not  for- 
getting plenty  of  Madeira,  always  regarded  as  among 
the  "  necessities  "  in  those  wine-bibbing  days  when 
the  officer  who  could  not  punish  a  bottle  at  dinner 
was  looked  upon  as  quite  unfit  for  the  service  of  his 
most  Germanic  of  Majesties,  George  II.  Franklin 
was    back    in    Pennsylvania    when    the    provisions 


I04  Benjamin  Franklin  [nss- 

rcached  the  army,  but  he  was  the  recipient  of  grate- 
ful letters,  and  was  further  honoured  (?)  by  a  request 
from  Braddock  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  victual- 
ling of  the  forces  in  Virginia.  To  assist  in  the  latter 
work  the  Postmaster-General  advanced,  out  of  his 
own  pocket,  over  ^looo  sterling,  and  was  fortunate 
in  getting  an  order  for  almost  the  whole  of  that 
amount,  just  before  the  General's  disastrous  defeat. 
The  balance  due  was  to  remain  until  the  next  ac- 
count— but  when  the  time  for  settling  arrived.  Brad- 
dock  had  gone  to  his  own  last  account,  and  that  was 
an  end  to  the  matter. 

It  is  a  tribute  to  Franklin's  sagacity  that,  civilian 
though  he  was,  he  had  given  Braddock  a  piece  of 
advice  which,  had  it  been  taken,  might  have  turned 
a  disastrous  campaign  into  triumphant  victory.  One 
day  the  General,  in  airing  before  his  visitor  the  plan 
of  campaign,  confidently  remarked:  "  After  taking 
Fort  Duquesne  I  am  to  proceed  to  Niagara;  and, 
having  taken  that,  to  Frontenac,  if  the  season  will 
allow  time ;  and  I  suppose  it  will,  for  Duquesne 
can  hardly  detain  me  above  three  or  four  days ;  and 
then  I  see  nothing  that  can  obstruct  my  march  to 
Niagara." 

Franklin  was  not  a  military  man,  yet  he  saw  very 
clearly  that  there  were  more  dii^culties  in  the  way 
of  the  English  troops  than  were  dreamed  of  in 
the  arrogant,  know-it-all  philosophy  of  Braddock. 
Having  before  revolved  in  his  mind  the  long  line 
the  army  must  make  in  their  march  by  a  very  narrow 
road  to  be  cut  for  them  through  the  woods  and 
bushes,  and  recalling  the  defeat  of  fifteen  hundred 


i75f']  In  Martial  Mood  105 

French  who  had  invaded  the  country  of  the  Iroquois, 
he  had  serious  misgivings  as  to  the  outcome  of  the 
campaign.  And  he  replied  poHtely  to  the  glowing 
prophecies  of  the  General : 

"  To  be  sure,  sir,  if  you  arrive  well  before  Duquesne,  with  these 
fine  troops,  so  well  provided  with  artillery,  that  place  not  yet  com- 
pletely fortified,  and  as  we  hear  with  no  very  strong  garrison,  can 
probably  make  but  a  short  resistance.  The  only  danger  I  apprehend 
of  obstruction  to  your  march  is  from  ambuscades  of  Indians,  who,  by 
constant  practice,  are  dexterous  in  laying  and  executing  them  ;  and 
the  slender  line,  near  four  miles  long,  which  your  army  must  make, 
may  expose  it  to  be  attacked  by  surprise  in  its  flanks,  and  to  be  cut 
like  a  thread  into  several  pieces,  which,  from  their  distance,  cannot 
come  up  in  time  to  support  each  other." 

The  Englishman  smiled  good-naturedly  at  the 
sublime  ignorance  displayed  in  such  a  speech.  What 
could  the  half-civilised  Americans  know  of  the  great 
art  of  warfare — that  art  which  the  mighty  Duke  of 
Marlborough  had  raised  to  such  a  pinnacle  of  sci- 
ence?   So  Braddock  answered,  half  contemptuously: 

These  savages,  may,  indeed,  be  a  formidable 
enemy  to  your  raw  American  militia,  but  upon  the 
King's  regular  and  disciplined  troops,  sir,  it  is  im- 
possible they  should   make  any  impression."     The 

little  postmaster"  was  modestly  "  conscious  of  an 
impropriety  "  in  "  disputing  with  a  military  man  in 
matters  of  his  profession,"  and  said  no  more.  Little 
did  he  then  dream  that  after  the  passing  of  two  dec- 
ades the  "  raw  American  militia  "  would  begin  to 
open  the  eyes  of  British  ofificers  who  thought  as  did 
the  General. 

Before  the  middle  of  July  the  bloody  battle  of  the 


io6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

Monongahela  had  been  fought,  and  an  ambuscade 
of  French  and  Indians,  of  which  Braddock  had  been 
so  often  warned,  put  an  end  to  a  thousand  vain- 
glorious hopes,  and  to  many  a  life  deserving  of  a 
better  death.  How  the  English  soldiers,  marching 
gaily  accoutred  as  though  on  dress-parade,  were 
surprised  by  the  enemy  when  within  a  short  distance 
of  Fort  Duquesne,  and  led  into  a  veritable  trap;  how 
they  were  thrown  into  fatal  confusion  by  the  galling 
fire  which  came  from  the  invisible  savages  planted 
behind  the  trees;  and  how  the  action,  if  action  it 
could  be  called,  ended  in  a  disastrous  rout — the 
colonies  rang  with  the  appalling  description  for 
many  a  day.  What  a  scene  of  slaughter!  Not  the 
regular  warfare  beloved  by  Braddock,  but  an  insidi- 
ous fire  from  an  unseen  foe.  Ofificers  tried  to  rally 
their  men,  only  to  be  shot  down  themselves,  while 
the  General,  now  that  he  saw  too  late  the  fruits  of 
his  obstinacy  and  criminal  foolishness,  stormed  and 
implored,  riding  from  rank  to  rank,  and  trying  to 
bring  order  out  of  chaos. 

"  In  a  narrow  road  twelve  feet  wide,  shut  up  on  either  side  and 
overpent  by  the  primeval  forest,  were  crowded  together  the  panic- 
stricken  wretches,  hastily  loading  and  reloading,  and  blindly  dis- 
charging their  guns  in  the  air,  as  though  they  suspected  their 
mysterious  murderers  were  sheltered  in  the  boughs  above  their  heads  ; 
while  all  around,  removed  from  sight,  but  making  day  hideous  with 
their  war-hoops  and  savage  cries,  lay  ensconced  a  host  insatiable  for 
blood.  .  .  .  The  regular  soldiery,  deprived  of  their  immediate 
commanders,  and  terrified  at  the  incessant  fall  of  their  comrades, 
could  not  be  brought  to  the  charge  ;  while  the  provincials,  better 
skilled,  sought  in  vain  to  cover  themselves  and  to  meet  the  foe  upon 
equal  terms  ;  for  to  the  urgent  entreaties  of  Washington  and  Sir 
Peter  Halket  [Colonel  of  the  Forty-fourth  Regiment,  killed  in  the 


t756]  In  Martial  Mood  107 

battle,  with  one  of  his  sons]  that  the  men  might  be  permitted  to 
leave  the  ranks  and  shelter  themselves,  the  General  turned  a  deaf 
ear.  Wherever  he  saw  a  man  skulking  behind  a  tree,  he  flew  at 
once  to  the  spot,  and,  with  curses  on  his  cowardice  and  blows  with 
the  flat  of  his  sword,  drove  him  back  into  the  open  road."  * 

How    like    Braddock!     A  blunderer  to  the  last. 
Nor  would  he  retire  from  the  forest-field  until  out 
of  his  fourteen  hundred  and  sixty  men,  officers  and 
privates,  over  four  hundred  were  killed  and  as  many 
more  wounded  !     Then,  "  with  a  mien  undaunted  as 
in    his    proudest  hour,"   he   ordered   the  drums  to 
sound  the  retreat.     The  surviving  privates,  who  had 
behaved    with    amazing    bravery    throughout    the 
battle,  lost  their  self-control  and  fled  ignominiously 
like  a  flock  of  sheep.     The  General,  in  the  mean- 
time, was  shot  through  the  lungs  and  fell  from  his 
horse,  as  his  men  dashed  by  him  too  intent  upon 
their    own   safety    to    think    of    their    commander. 
Braddock,  overcome  with  a  sense  of  his  disgrace, 
wished  to  die  upon  the  field,  but  Captain  Orme  and 
two  American  ofificers  bore  him  tenderly  away.      He 
still  continued  to  give  his  orders,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  remnant  of  his  army  reached  the  Great 
Meadows  that  he  breathed   his  last— heart-broken 
but  brave  as  of  old.     Only  twice  did  he  refer  to  the 
catastrophe,  once  saying  to  himself,  "  Who  would 
have  thought  it  ?  "  and  then,  a  few  minutes  before 
he  died,  murmuring:  "  We  shall  better  know  how 
to  deal  with  them  another  time." 

The  colonists  were  thrown  into  dismay  by  the  rout 
of  Braddock's  forces,  and  visions  of  further  aggres- 

*  The  History  oj  An  Expedition  against  Fort  DuQuesne. 


io8  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

sion  from  the  French,  and  cruelty  from  the  Indians, 
grew  more  terrible  as  the  possible  consequences  of 
the  defeat  were  discussed.  Franklin  was  not  sur- 
prised, and  we  can  hear  him  saying  to  shocked 
Philadelphia  citizens,  as  he  wrote  later  in  the  Auto- 
biography, that  the  General  was  "  a  brave  man,  and 
might  probably  have  made  a  figure  as  a  good  officer 
in  some  European  war.  But  he  had  too  much  self- 
confidence,  too  high  an  opinion  of  the  validity  of 
regular  troops,  and  too  mean  a  one  of  both  Ameri- 
cans and  Indians."  The  prophet  had  been  vindi- 
cated, but  both  his  patriotism  and  his  personal 
interests  prevented  him  from  taking  satisfaction  in 
this  fresh  proof  of  his  sagacity.  The  affair  might, 
indeed,  have  proved  the  financial  ruin  of  Franklin, 
for  there  were  the  waggons  and  horses  which  had 
been  abandoned,  and  for  the  value  of  which  he  had 
given  his  personal  bond  to  the  owners. 

"  Their  demands,"  he  tells  us,  "  gave  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble, 
my  acquainting  them  that  the  money  was  ready  in  the  paymaster's 
hands,  but  that  orders  for  paying  it  must  first  be  obtained  from  Gen- 
eral Shirley,  and  my  assuring  them  that  I  had  applied  to  that  general 
by  letter;  but,  he,  being  at  a  distance,  an  answer  could  not  soon  be 
received,  and  they  must  have  patience,  all  this  was  not  sufficient  to 
satisfy  and  some  began  to  sue  me.  General  Shirley  at  length  relieved 
me  from  this  terrible  situation  by  appointing  commissioners  to  exam- 
ine the  claims  and  ordering  payment.  They  amounted  to  near  twenty 
thousand  pound,  which  to  pay  would  have  ruined  me." 

But  the  possibility  of  succumbing  to  a  series  of 
lawsflits  did  not  prevent  the  Postmaster-General 
from  doing  what  he  could  to  restore  public  confi- 
dence, and  from  advising  that  Colonel  Dunbar,  who 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  109 

led  the  survivors  of  Braddock's  once  stalwart  band, 
should  remain  on  the  defensive  until  reinforced  by 
sufficient  colonial  troops  to  attempt  the  capture  of 
Fort  Duquesne.  Governor  Morris,  who  was  still 
fighting  with  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  over 
that  eternal  question  of  taxing  or  non-taxing  the 
Penn  estates,  agreed  with  this  idea  and  warmly  op- 
posed Dunbar's  intention  of  striking  his  colours  and 
marching  to  Philadelphia.  But  the  ungallant  Colo- 
nel apparently  had  seen  enough  of  war;  he  indulged 
in  many  excuses,  and  reached  the  Quaker  City  to- 
ward the  end  of  August.  He  encamped  with  his 
men  on  Society  Hill,  where  they  remained  until 
October  ist,  and  then  left  for  New  York  and  Albany, 
deeply  grateful  for  their  kindly  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  the  inhabitants.  Then  it  was  that  Frank- 
lin wrote  to  a  friend  : 

"  Many  more  people  love  me  now  than  ever  did  before  ;  for,  since 
I  saw  you,  I  have  been  enabled  to  do  some  general  services  to  the 
country  and  to  the  army,  for  which  both  have  thanked  and  praised 
me,  and  say  they  love  me.  They  say  so  as  you  used  to  do  ;  and  if  I 
were  to  ask  any  favours  of  them,  they  would,  perhaps,  as  readily  refuse 
me ;  so  that  I  find  little  real  advantage  in  being  beloved,  but  it 
pleases  my  humour." 

Governor  Morris  was  not  slow  to  intimate  that  the 
defeat  of  Braddock  was  due,  in  some  part,  to  the 
failure  of  the  Pennsylvania  legislators  to  make 
the  needful  provision  for  the  aid  of  the  unfortunate 
General.  It  is  recorded  that  when  he  gave  out  the 
news  of  the  defeat  the  Governor  was  insulted  on 
the  street  by  indignant  and  unbelieving  citizens  who 
were  to  find,  only  too  soon,  that  he  spoke  the  truth. 


no  Benjamin  Franklin  [nss- 

The  Assembly  now  offered  to  appropriate  for  the 
King's  use  the  sum  of  ^50,000,  but  the  same  old 
contention  between  the  interests  of  the  selfish  Penns 
and  the  interests  of  the  colony  rendered  the  legisla- 
tion abortive.  The  Assembly  stipulated  that  in  the 
securing  of  the  money  all  estates,  real  and  personal, 
were  to  be  taxed,  "  those  of  the  proprietaries  not 
excepted."  The  Governor,  however,  insisted  that 
for  the  word  not  that  of  only  should  be  used,  and 
thereby  put  a  stop  to  the  intended  liberality  of  the 
Assembly,  which  refused  to  yield  one  jot  to  the  ab- 
sentee proprietors.  "  Those  who  would  give  up 
essential  liberty,"  wTote  Franklin,  bravely  and  de- 
fiantly, "  for  the  sake  of  a  little  temporary  safety, 
deserve  neither  liberty  nor  safety,"  He  had  ever 
been  opposed  to  the  exactions  of  the  Penns,  and  he 
did  much  to  keep  his  companions  up  to  the  neces- 
sary pitch  of  firmness.  The  contest  wore  on,  and 
with  the  autumn  came  terrible  Indian  disturbances 
in  the  western  part  of  the  province — nay,  nearer 
home  than  that— with  the  horrors  of  scalping,  and 
the  stealing  of  children.  Watson  records  that  the 
frontiersmen,  fearing  that  the  pacific  policy  of  the 
Quakers  had  too  much  influence  upon  the  Assembly, 
and  desiring  that  the  latter  should  take  some  meas- 
ures for  their  protection,  adopted,  "  to  move  them 
to  a  livelier  emotion,"  a  ghastly  expedient.  It  was 
nothing  less  than  to  send  on  to  Philadelphia  the 
bodies  of  a  family  murdered  by  the  Indians. 
"  These  actually  reached  Philadelphia  in  the  winter, 
like  frozen  venison  from  their  mountains  —  were 
paraded  through  our  city,  and  finally  set  down  be- 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  ni 

fore  the  legislative  hall."  When  the  multitude  and 
their  uncanny  exhibit  reached  the  State  House,  the 
headquarters  of  the  Assembly,  perhaps  Franklin 
calmly  looked  out  of  window  at  the  throng,  and 
foresaw  that  help  was  at  hand.  The  province  must 
be  defended — on  that  he  was  resolved — and  he  had 
taken  care  that  the  parsimony  of  the  proprietaries  and 
the  absurdity  of  their  demands  should  be  well  venti- 
lated in  England.  It  was  a  wise  move.  The  Penns 
were  frightened  into  parting  with  a  little  of  their 
money,  and  sent  an  order  to  their  Receiver-General 
in  Pennsylvania  to  add  i^5ooo  to  whatever  sum 
might  be  given  by  the  Assembly  for  the  defence  of 
the  province."  That  body  appropriated  ;^6o,000, 
and  by  way  of  proclaiming  a  temporary  truce  with 
the  proprietaries  waived  (under  protest,  however) 
the  immediate  question  of  taxing  their  estates. 

P^ranklin  was  always  reasonable;  he  resented  as 
much  as  ever  the  claims  of  the  proprietaries,  but 
was  now  ready  to  leave  the  question  in  abeyance 
until  measures  had  been  taken  to  protect  the  prov- 
ince. He  was  himself  appointed  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners for  expending  the  money,  and  worked  with 
all  his  energy  toward  the  formation  of  a  militia 
force.  For  the  latter  purpose  it  was  necessary  to 
have  the  sanction  of  the  Assembly,  and  it  is  at  this 
point  that  the  statesmanship  of  the  man  comes  again 
to  the  fore.  The  Quaker  influence  in  the  legislature 
was  still  important,  and  the  passage  of  a  militia  bill 
was  not  likely  to  meet  with  favour  in  non-resistance 

*  With  characteristic  meanness,  however,  the  Penns  provided  that 
this  money  was  to  be  obtained  from  arrears  of  quit-rents. 


112  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

circles.  So  he  adroitly  drafted  a  measure  which 
provided  for  the  organisation  of  volunteer  compan- 
ies of  defenders, but  expressly  stipulated  that  nothing 
in  the  act  should  have  any  power  to  affect  in  the 
least  "  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  who 
are  conscientiously  scrupulous  of  bearing  arms, 
either  in  their  liberties,  persons,  or  estates."  Polite 
mention  was  made  in  the  preamble  of  "  the  people 
called  Quakers,  who,  though  they  do  not,  as  the 
world  is  now  circumstanced,  condemn  the  use  of 
arms  in  others,  yet  are  principled  against  bearing 
arms  themselves."  It  was  pointed  out  that  '*  to 
make  any  law  to  compel  them  thereto  against  their 
consciences,  would  be  not  only  to  violate  a  funda- 
mental in  our  constitution,  and  be  a  direct  breach 
of  our  charter  of  privileges,  but  would  also  in  effect 
be  to  commence  persecution."  The  bill  was  passed 
without  great  difficulty,  owing  to  the  Chesterfieldian 
courtesy  which  it  exhibited  toward  the  opposition, 
and  it  is  probable  that  many  a  Quaker  slept  more 
soundly  thereafter  because  of  its  adoption.  It  was 
ail  very  well  to  refuse  to  bear  arms,  but  the  peace 
theory — an  admirable  theory  in  itself,  yet  far  in  ad- 
vance of  the  times — could  not  keep  away  the  toma- 
hawk. The  community  of  Friends,  being  but 
human,  realised  as  vividly  as  did  the  Episcopalians, 
or  anyone  else,  the  danger  from  the  West. 

Not  content  with  helping  in  other  directions,  the 
editor  of  the  Gazette  wrote  a  "  Dialogue  between 
X,  Y,  and  Z,  Concerning  the  Present  State  of  Affairs 
in  Pennsylvania,"  wherein  the  objections  against  a 
militia  were  answered  and  disposed  of  by  means  of 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  113 

the  conversation  between  the  aforesaid  Messrs.  X, 
Y,  and  Z.  Mr.  X  championed  the  Assembly  bill, 
and,  after  naming  its  virtues,  concluded  by  grand- 
iloquently crying  to  Messrs.  Y  and  Z: 

"  O  my  friends,  let  us  on  this  occasion  cast  from  us  all  these  little 
party  views,  and  consider  ourselves  as  Englishmen  and  Pennsylva- 
nians.  Let  us  think  only  of  the  service  of  our  King,  the  honour  and 
safety  of  our  country,  and  vengeance  on  its  murdering  enemies.  If 
good  be  done,  what  imports  it  by  whom  it  is  done  ?  The  glory  of 
serving  and  saving  others  is  superior  to  the  advantage  of  being  served 
or  secured.  Let  us  resolutely  and  generously  unite  in  our  country's 
cause,  in  wrhich  to  die  is  the  sweetest  of  all  deaths,  and  may  the  God 
of  armies  bless  our  honest  endeavours." 

There  is  in  this  apostrophe  a  fervour,  a  convincing 
power,  and  a  lofty  patriotism  difficult  to  excel.  No 
wonder  that  the  "  Dialogue  "  had  "  great  effect."  * 
Now  the  view  shifts  as  we  watch  the  theatre  of 
Franklin's  activities.  He  has  posed  as  a  legislator, 
as  a  financier,  and  as  a  writer,  in  this  work  of  organ- 
ising public  defence,  and  next,  viirabile  dictu,  he  is 
to  play  the  soldier,  and  play  him  well.  Colonel 
Franklin  !  The  title  has  an  odd  sound,  but  capitally 
was  it  worn  by  one  to  whom  might  be  given  the 
degree  of  master — not  jack — of  many  trades. 

"  While  the  several  companies  in  the  city  and  country  were  form- 
ing, and  learning  their  exercise,"  he  writes,  "  the  Governor  [Morris] 
prevailed  with  me  to  take  charge  of  our  Northwestern  frontier,  which 
was  infested  by  the  enemy,  and  provide  for  the  defence  of  the  inhabi- 
tants by  raising  troops  and  building  a  line  of  forts.  I  undertook  this 
military  business,  tho'  I  did  not  conceive  myself  well  qualified  for  it. 
He  gave  me  a  commission  with  full  powers,  and  a  parcel  of  blank 
commissions  for  officers,  to  be  given  to  whom  I  thought  fit." 

*  Published  in  the  Gazette  of  December  i8,  17';';. 


114  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

It  was  time  that  something  was  done.  The  Mora- 
vian village  of  Gnadenhutten,  Northampton  County, 
had  been  destroyed  by  the  Indians,  who  killed  the 
inhabitants,  and  the  dwellers  in  that  whole  section 
of  the  country  were  in  terror.  The  new  warrior  was 
not  slow  in  raising  men,  of  whom  he  secured  over 
five  hundred,  nor  did  he  forget  to  appoint  his  son 
an  aidc-dc-cainp.  Then  they  all  set  out  right  val- 
iantly to  march  to  Bethlehem,  the  Moravian  strong- 
hold, where  they  arrived  after  a  cold,  unpleasant 
time  of  it,  but  without  mishap.  Franklin  found  the 
town  in  a  good  condition  of  defence,  for  the  massacre 
at  Gnadenhutten  had  stirred  the  people  to  a  keen 
sense  of  danger.  The  principal  buildings  were  forti- 
fied by  a  stockade;  arms  and  ammunition  had  been 
brought  from  New  York;  there  were  paving-stones 
in  the  houses,  for  use  upon  the  heads  of  invading 
Indians  ;  the  Moravian  brethren  had  organised  a 
guard  of  sentinels. 

"  It  was  the  beginning  of  January,"  says  our  Colonel,  "  when  we 
set  out  upon  this  business  of  building  forts.  I  sent  one  detachment 
toward  the  Minisink,  with  instructions  to  erect  one  for  the  security 
of  that  upper  part  of  the  country,  and  another  to  the  lower  part,  with 
similar  instructions  ;  and  I  concluded  to  go  myself  with  the  rest  of 
my  force  to  Gnadenhut,  where  a  fort  was  thought  more  immediately 
necessary.  The  Moravians  procured  me  five  waggons  for  our  tools, 
stores,  baggage,  etc.  Just  before  we  left  Bethlehem,  eleven  farmers, 
who  had  been  driven  from  their  plantations  by  the  Indians,  came  to 
me  requesting  a  supply  of  firearms,  that  they  might  go  back  and  fetch 
off  their  cattle.  I  gave  them  each  a  gun  with  suitable  ammunition. 
We  had  not  marched  many  miles  before  it  began  to  rain,  and  it  con- 
tinued raining  all  day  ;  there  were  no  habitations  on  the  road,  to 
shelter  us,  till  we  arrived  near  night  at  the  house  of  a  German,  where, 
and  in  his  barn,  we  were  all  huddled  together,  as  wet  as  water  could 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  115 

make  us.  It  was  well  we  were  not  attacked  in  our  march,  for  our 
arms  were  of  the  most  ordinary  sort,  and  our  men  could  not  keep 
their  gun-locks  dry.  The  Indians  are  dextrous  in  contrivances  for 
that  purpose,  which  we  had  not.  They  met  that  day  the  eleven  poor 
farmers  above-mentioned,  and  killed  ten  of  them.  The  one  who 
escaped  informed,  that  his  and  his  companions'  guns  would  not  go 
off,  the  priming  being  wet  with  the  rain." 

This  was  all  dangerous  enough,  and  bodily  dis- 
agreeable, but  the  commander  and  his  men  never 
flinched.  Upon  their  arrival  at  the  desolate  Gnad- 
enhutten,  huts  were  made  out  of  boards  procured 
from  a  neighbouring  saw-mill;  the  dead,  who  "  had 
been  half-interred  by  the  country  people,"  were 
buried  more  effectually,  and  a  fort  of  palisades,  cut 
from  pine  trees,  was  erected  in  a  week  of  working 
days.  There  were  intermediate  days  when  it  rained 
so  hard  that  the  volunteers  could  not  do  anything. 
"  On  the  days  they  worked  they  were  good-natured 
and  cheerful,  and,  with  the  consciousness  of  having 
done  a  good  day's  work,  they  spent  the  evening 
jollily ;  but  on  our  idle  days  they  were  mutinous 
and  quarrelsome,  finding  fault  with  their  pork,  the 
bread,  etc.,  and  in  continual  ill-humour  " — a  circum- 
stance which  reminded  the  Colonel  of  the  sea-captain 
"  whose  rule  it  was  to  keep  his  men  constantly  at 
work;  and,  when  his  mate  once  told  him  that  they 
had  done  everything,  and  there  was  nothing  further 
to  employ  them  about,  *  (9//,'  saj's  Jic,  ^  make  them 
scour  the  anchor. ' 

Franklin's  presence  was  now  desired  at  Philadel- 
phia, where  the  Assembly  was  about  to  meet,  with 
every  prospect  of  further  trouble  from  Governor 
Morris.     As  the  three  frontier  forts  were  finished, 


ii6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1755- 

and  as  a  New  England  officer,  Colonel  Clapham, 
was  willing  to  take  command  of  Fort  Allen,  the 
soldier-philosopher-printer  returned  home,  after 
commissioning  Clapham  before  the  garrison,  and 
introducing  him  as  one  who  was  much  more  fit  than 
himself  for  the  colonelcy. 

The  martial  spirit  was  in  full  swing  when  Franklin 
once  again  saw  his  adopted  city.  A  large  regiment 
played  at  soldiering,  and  no  sooner  had  he  put  in  an 
appearance  than  he  was  asked  to  be  its  colonel. 
This  time  he  accepted,  and  could  do  so  with  a  clear 
conscience,  for  he  had  shown  the  true  military  in- 
stinct upon  that  risky  little  journey  to  Northampton 
County.  No  battle  had  been  fought,  but  there  had 
been  work  to  do,  and  the  Colonel  had  done  it  ad- 
mirably.* What  more  appropriate,  therefore,  than 
to  command  the  Philadelphia  volunteers  ? 

"  I  forget  how  many  companies  we  had,"  he  says,  "  but  we 
paraded  about  twelve  hundred  well-looking  men,  with  a  company  of 
artillery  who  had  been  furnished  with  six  brass  field-pieces,  which 
they  had  become  so  expert  in  the  use  of  as  to  fire  twelve  times  in  a 
minute.  The  first  time  I  reviewed  my  regiment  they  accompanied 
me  to  my  house  and  would  salute  me  with  some  rounds  fired  before 
my  door,  which  shook  down  and  broke  several  glasses  of  my  electri- 
cal apparatus.  And  my  new  honour  proved  not  much  less  brittle  ; 
for  all  our  commissions  were  soon  after  broken  by  a  repeal  of  the  law 
in  England." 

An  officer  with  an  electrical  machine — that  tells 
the  tale  of  Franklin's  versatility.  The  tastes  of  the 
savant  set  off  by  the  flashing  of  arms !     What  won- 

*  Gnadenhutten,  sad  to  relate,  was  again  destroyed  by  the  Indians 
in  the  following  November,  1756. 


1756]  In  Martial  Mood  117 

der  that  he  found  himself  the  most  popular  man  in 
town,  or  that  he  was  even  asked  to  attempt  the 
capturing  of  Fort  Duquesne  ?  Many  a  citizen 
would  have  lost  his  head  as  a  result  of  this  adula- 
tion, and  then,  by  launching  forth  still  further  into 
the  uncertain  sea  of  war,  might  have  lost  likewise 
his  reputation,  and  his  life.  The"  little  postmaster  " 
was  not  of  these;  he  could  procure  waggons  for 
an  army,  give  valuable  advice  to  a  stubborn  general, 
build  forts,  and  command  a  local  regiment,  but,  as 
he  shrewdly  knew,  it  did  not  follow  that  he  could 
cope  with  the  French  in  the  wilderness.  As  it  was, 
the  glamour  of  militia  life,  the  parade,  the  fuss  and 
feathers,  must  have  wearied  him  a  bit,  and  there 
was  one  occasion  when,  as  he  confesses,  it  decidedly 
annoyed  him. 

He  was  about  to  set  out  for  Virginia,  on  a  postal 
inspection,  and  had  just  mounted  his  horse,  when 
up  to  the  house  rode  the  officers  of  the  regiment, 
between  thirty  and  forty  handsomely  uniformed 
warriors.  They  had  arranged  to  escort  their  colonel 
out  of  town.  The  recipient  of  this  honour  was  sur- 
prised, and  a  "  good  deal  chagrined  "  at  their 
appearance,  hating  to  be  put  in  so  spectacular  a 
position,  but  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but 
smile  and  bear  it  all  politely.  More  trials  were  in 
store  for  the  modest  man.  No  sooner  had  the  caval- 
cade begun  to  move  than  the  ofificers  drew  their 
swords  and  kept  them  drawn  until  they  had  seen 
their  beloved  leader  safely  out  of  the  city.  Such  an 
exhibition  of  ceremony  was  absurdly  pretentious  for 
provincial    Philadelphia,    however   matter-of-fact  it 


iiB  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756 

might  appear  now,  and  Franklin  must  have  had 
hard  work  to  keep  his  temper.  No  one,  even 
though  he  be  a  philosopher,  likes  to  be  made  ridic- 
ulous. 

Of  course  the  incident  was  commented  upon,  and, 
of  course,  an  ofificious  correspondent  wrote  a  full  ac- 
count of  it  to  Thomas  Penn,  doubtless  exaggerating 
the  scene  and  representing  the  colonel  so  unwillingly- 
honoured  in  the  light  of  a  would-be  dictator. 
Whereat  Mr.  Penn  became  angry,  declaring  that 
neither  he,  when  he  visited  the  province,  nor  any  of 
his  governors  had  been  the  recipient  of  such  a  mili- 
tary escort — an  escort,  according  to  him,  only  due 
to  princes  of  the  blood  royal.  Libelled  Franklin ! 
He  was  the  last  man  on  earth  to  exact  attentions 
due  a  royal  duke,  for,  although  he  liked  the  praise 
and  consideration  of  his  fellow-men,  he  never  cared 
for  flummery  or  ostentation.  Nay,  the  proprietary 
went  so  far  as  to  insinuate  that  the  Postmaster- 
General  of  the  colonies  wished  to  take  upon  himself 
the  reigns  of  provincial  government,  and  he  even 
tried,  though  unsuccessfully,  to  deprive  him  of  his 
ofifice.  Yet  no  amount  of  abuse  could  dim  the  lustre 
of  Benjamin  Franklin's  achievements.  He  had 
nobly  impersonated  his  several  characters  in  the 
drama  of  colonial  life,  and  not  a  hundred  Thomas 
Penns  could  stop  his  onward  progress.  What  mat- 
tered it,  after  all,  if  the  ofificers  drew  their  swords 
and  gave  to  their  commander  a  stately  exit  ?  No 
one  in  all  the  provinces  deserved  it  more. 


THOMAS  PENN. 

FROM  A  PAINTING  OWNED  BY  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,    AND  COPIED  BY 
M.  I.  NAYLOR  FROM   THE  PORTRAIT  IN   POSSESSION  OF  MAJOR  DUGALD  STUART. 


CHAPTER  V 

A  BATTLE   WITH   THE   PENNS 

1756-I762 


■:.'.:,-.;v^.:,v.:Vg; 


>•'■:''' -J-v'^^^'-^R A N K L I N  might  soon  relinquish  his 
^P^|Si:  colonelcy,  and  all  the  pomps  and 
trappings,  such  as  they  were,  of  a 
provincial  militia,  yet  none  the  less 
was  he  to  shine  as  an  intrepid  fighter 
who  would  win  a  glorious  victory.  This  time  the 
warfare  would  be  on  constitutional  lines,  with  Rich- 
ard and  Thomas  Penn,  the  proprietaries  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, as  the  powerful  enemy,  and  with  the  inevitable 
question  of  taxation  as  the  bone  of  contention.  For 
some  years  the  sordid  controversy  had  agitated  the 
province,  frequently  paralysing  needed  legislation, 
and  reaching  such  a  stage  that  its  continuance  threat- 
ened nothing  less  than  ruin  to  the  colony.  While 
the  Assembly  was  disputing  the  arrogant  assumption 
of  the  Penns,  who  wished  practically  to  make  of 
themselves  feudal  lords,  and  while  the  subservient 
governors  of  the  latter  were  trying  to  uphold  the 
pretension,  the  public  business  dragged,  and  the 
poor  Pennsylvanians  stood  more  and  more  in  danger 

119 


I20  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

of  Indian  invasion  and  destruction.  The  situation, 
which  is  interesting  as  we  look  back  at  it,  in  show- 
ing the  constantly  growing  spirit  of  American  defi- 
ance to  unjust  exaction,  must  have  been  one  of  the 
most  solid  discomfort. 

So  irksome,  indeed,  did  the  state  of  affairs  be- 
come to  Governor  Morris  that  in  1756  he  resigned 
his  office.  One  of  the  closing  orders  of  his  adminis- 
tration was  to  forbid  Colonel  Franklin's  regiment 
from  indulging  in  an  artillery  salute;  whereupon  the 
indignant  officers  (we  know  not  whether  the  com- 
mander was  amongst  them)  repaired  to  a  tavern, 
where  they  drank  down  their  disappointment  right 
royally  to  the  significant  sentiment,  "  The  speedy 
arrival  of  a  new  Governor."  When  the  new  Gov- 
ernor did  arrive,  in  the  person  of  Captain  William 
Denny,  great  was  the  rejoicing,  and  gallantly  was 
he  welcomed  by  the  learned  Colonel  and  his  cohort. 
The  regiment  was  drawn  up  on  Second  Street  to 
salute  him ;  there  were  bonfires,  firing  of  cannon, 
and  ringing  of  bells.  The  following  day  the  city 
authorities  gave  a  handsome  dinner  in  his  honour, 
at  which,  we  need  hardly  say,  the  beloved  Colonel 
had  an  important  seat.  More  than  this,  the  Gov- 
ernor presented  to  Franklin,  before  the  assembled 
company,  the  Copley  gold  medal  awarded  him  for 
his  scientific  researches  by  the  Royal  Society,  and 
the  new  incumbent  was  pleased  to  accompany  the 
gift  with  some  remarks  highly  flattering  to  the  char- 
acter and  attainments  of  the  Postmaster-General  of 
the  colonies. 

The  Captain  was,  in  fine,  trying  his  hand  at  di- 


1762J  A  Battle  with  the  Penns  121 

plomacy ;  he  knew  that  the  recipient  of  the  Copley 
medal  happened  to  be  not  only  a  saiuDit  but  likewise 
the  most  powerful  citizen  of  Pennsylvania,  and  he 
determined  to  propitiate  him  to  the  utmost.  Per- 
haps, too,  he  had  heard  of  the  great  man's  thrifti- 
ness,  and  thought  to  win  him  over  to  the  side  of  the 
proprietaries  by  delicately  veiled  bribery.  Certain 
it  is  that  the  Governor  watched  his  chance,  and 
when  the  solids  of  the  dinner  had  been  disposed  of, 
and  the  guests  were  settling  down  to  the  guzzling 
of  wine — the  thing  about  the  entertainment  which 
some  of  them  loved  the  most  feelingly — Denny  led 
the  intended  victim  into  an  adjoining  room.  Here 
he  ingenuously  informed  Franklin  that  he  had  been 
advised  by  his  friends  in  England  to  cultivate  a 
friendship  with  him  "  as  one  who  was  capable  of 
giving  him  the  best  advice,"  and  of  "  contributing 
most  effectually  to  the  making  his  administration 
easy,"  and  the  speaker  adroitly  expressed  his  readi- 
ness to  render  his  new  friend  every  service  that  might 
be  in  his  power.  We  can  fancy  Denny  standing 
there,  suave,  conciliatory,  watchful  of  the  effect  of 
his  words,  while  Franklin,  with  those  calm,  unread- 
able eyes  of  his,  gazes  peacefully  as  a  child  at  the 
telltale  face  of  the  Governor,  who,  thinking  himself 
a  paragon  of  depth,  must  have  been  fathomed  in  a 
moment  by  his  more  plainly  dressed  companion. 

"  He  said  much  to  me,  also,"  relates  the  latter,  in  the  closing 
pages  of  the  too  quickly  ended  Autobiography,  "  of  the  proprietor'b* 
good  disposition  towards  the  province,  and  of  the  advantage  it  might 

*  Thomas  Penn,  rather  than  the  other  proprietor,  Richard,  is  here 
meant. 


122  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

be  to  us  all,  and  to  me  in  particular,  if  the  opposition  that  had  been 
so  long  continued  to  his  measures  was  dropt,  and  harmony  restored 
between  him  and  the  people  ;  in  effecting  which,  it  was  thought  no 
one  could  be  more  serviceable  than  myself  ;  and  I  might  depend  on 
adequate  acknowledgments  and  recompenses,  etc," 

The  diners  had  been  quick  to  perceive  the  retire- 
ment of  the  Governor  and  the  Colonel,  and  doubt- 
less there  were  many  whisperings  on  the  subject, 
with  a  thousand  predictions  as  to  the  outcome  of  so 
extraordinary  an  interview.  As  the  guests  grew 
more  mellow  they  became  generous,  and  sent  in  to 
the  absentees  a  decanter  of  choice  Madeira,  to  add 
life  to  their  deliberations.  Denny  attacked  the  gift 
without  delay,  and  the  more  wine  he  drank  the 
larger  became  his  promises  and  the  more  fervid  his 
protestations  of  friendship.  Franklin,  on  the  other 
hand,  appears  to  have  left  his  Excellency  free  to 
wrestle  with  the  decanter,  and  to  have  kept  himself 
cool  and  clear-headed.  Although  he  could  sip  his 
Madeira  as  well  as  the  next  man,  he  chose  the  oc- 
casions, and  this  was  not  one  of  them.  The  Gov- 
ernor had  to  be  answered ;  his  hints  at  recompense 
must  be  repulsed.  So  the  Philadelphian  replied, 
very  politely  but  firmly,  that  his  circumstances, 
thanks  to  God,  were  such  as  to  make  proprietary 
favours  unnecessary  to  him,  and  that  he  could  not 
possibly  accept  of  any ;  that,  however,  he  had  no 
personal  enmity  against  the  proprietors,  and  that, 
whenever  the  public  measures  they  proposed  should 
appear  to  be  for  the  good  of  the  people,  "  no  one 
should  espouse  and  forward  them  more  zealously  " 
than  himself.     He  was  much  obliged  for  the  regard 


11(^2]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  123 

of  the  Governor,  who  might  rely  on  his  doing  all  in 
his  power  to  make  the  new  administration  as  easy  as 
possible,  but  it  was  to  be  hoped  that  his  Excellency 
"  had  not  brought  with  him  the  same  unfortunate 
instruction  his  predecessor  had  been  hampered 
with,"  Whereby  the  Governor  was  given  to  under- 
stand that  if  he  came  to  Pennsylvania  to  champion 
the  disputed  claims  of  the  proprietary^  the  fight  was 
still  on. 

Of  course  it  was  part  of  Denny's  official  duty  to 
insist  on  these  very  claims,  and  it  was  not  long, 
therefore,  before  he  became  engaged  in  the  custom- 
ary tilts  with  the  Assembly.  His  position  was  un- 
enviable in  the  extreme. 

"  If  he  refused  to  obey  the  proprietary  instructions,  he  would  be 
liable  to  prosecution,  while  if  he  refused  to  obey  the  mandates  of  the 
Assembly,  his  salary  would  be  withheld.  Proprietary  governors  thus 
had  to  be  indigent  or  fond  of  controversy.  In  fact  it  had  been  a 
practice  of  the  Assembly  to  send  to  the  governor  favourite  measures 
for  his  approbation,  and  at  the  same  time  attach  to  the  bill  a  resolu- 
tion appropriating  his  salary.  When  the  governor  refused  assent  his 
salary  was  of  course  withheld."  * 

So  the  fight  began  again  merrily,  and  Franklin, 
carrying  a  pen  dipped  in  gall  rather  than  a  colonel's 
sword,  could  be  seen  in  the  front  of  the  fray.  His 
personal  relations  were  cordial  with  Denny,  exactly 
as  they  had  been  with  Morris,  and  many  was  the  con- 
versation which  the  two  men,  enemies  politically, 
had  on  polite  literature  and  kindred  topics.  From 
the  new    Governor   was    it  that  the  Philadelphian 

*  History  of  Proprietary  Government  in  Pennsylvama^hy  William 
Robert  Shepherd,  Ph.D. 


124  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

learned  of  the  success  of  his  whilom  friend,  James 
Ralph,  who  had  fared  better  in  prose  than  in  poeti- 
cal writing,  and  who  had  secured  a  pension  for  ser- 
vices rendered  a  grateful  government. 

Finally  a  crisis  came  in  the  civic  feud.  Governor 
Denny  refused  to  sign  a  bill  granting  ^60,000  for 
the  King's  use,  from  an  excise  tax  upon  wine  and 
other  spirits.  Some  ;^  10,000  of  the  money  was  to 
be  subject  to  the  orders  of  the  Earl  of  Loudoun, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
British  forces  in  North  America.  Lord  Loudoun 
had  come  to  America  for  the  purpose  of  organising 
a  permanent  army  (to  carry  out  what  was  practically 
a  plan  to  place  the  colonies  under  military  rule),  and 
one  of  the  purposes  of  the  proposed  Assembly 
measure  was  to  aid  him  in  properly  defending  the 
province  from  the  still-threatening  Indians.  The 
bill  did  not  bring  up  the  dangerous  point  of  taxing 
the  Penn  estates,  yet,  for  all  that,  Denny  withheld 
assent  on  the  ground  that  an  approval  would  be 
contrary  to  his"  instructions."  This  was  the  last 
straw.  The  Assembly  now  resolved  to  send  over  to 
the  home  government  a  remonstrance  setting  forth 
the  strained,  not  to  say  dangerous,  state  of  affairs, 
and  the  "  pernicious  consequences  to  the  British  in- 
terest," and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania,  "  if, 
contrary  to  their  charters  and  laws,  they  were  to  be 
governed  by  proprietary  instructions  " — a  proceed- 
ing to  which  the  legislature  was  the  more  moved 
from  the  threat  of  the  Governor  to  submit  the  points 
of  this  interminable  controversy  to  the  King. 

Who  so  well  qualified  to  carry  over  the  remon- 


1762]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  125 

strancc  as  the  subtle  yet  determined  Franklin  ? 
His  name  at  once  suggested  itself,  and  he  was  asked 
to  take  the  uncomfortable  voyage  to  England,  Ven- 
erable Isaac  Norris,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  was 
asked  likewise  to  assist  in  the  mission,  but  age  and 
infirmity  made  him  averse  to  the  journey — no  child's 
play  for  an  old  man — and  in  the  end  Franklin,  after 
trying  unsuccessfully  to  induce  Norris  to  go  alone, 
consented  to  undertake  the  patriotic  business.  He 
was  ready  to  go  whenever  the  Assembly  should  think 
fit  to  require  his  service,  he  said,  and  probably  he 
was  not  half  sorry  at  the  opportunity.  Why  should 
he  have  been  ? 

As  the  unexpected  so  often  happened  in  the  life 
of  the  newly-commissioned  agent  for  the  Assembly, 
it  seems  quite  natural  that  interesting  things  should 
develop  before  he  set  sail. 

"  I  had  agreed  with  Captain  Morris,  of  the  paquet  at  New  York, 
for  my  passage,  and  my  stores  were  put  on  board,  when  Lord  Lou- 
doun arrived  at  Philadelphia,  expressly,  as  he  told  me,  to  endeavour 
an  accommodation  between  the  Governor  and  Assembly,  that  his 
Majesty's  service  might  not  be  obstructed  by  their  dissensions.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  desired  the  Governor  and  myself  to  meet  him,  that  he 
might  hear  what  was  to  be  said  on  both  sides.  We  met  and  discussed 
the  business.  In  behalf  of  the  Assembly,  I  urged  all  the  various 
arguments  that  maybe  found  in  the  public  papers  of  that  time,  which 
were  of  my  writing,  and  are  printed  with  the  minutes  of  the  Assem- 
bly ;  and  the  Governor  pleaded  his  instructions  ;  the  bond  he  had 
given  to  observe  them,  and  his  ruin  if  he  disobeyed,  yet  seemed  not 
unwilling  to  hazard  himself  if  Lord  Loudoun  would  advise  it.  This 
his  lordship  did  not  chuse  to  do,  though  I  once  thought  I  had  nearly 
prevailed  with  him  to  do  it ;  but  finally  he  rather  chose  to  urge  the 
compliance  of  the  Assembly  ;  and  he  entreated  me  to  use  my  endeav- 
ours with  them  for  that  purpose,  declaring  that  he  would  spare  none 
of  the  King's  troops  for  the  defence  of  our  frontiers,  and  that,  if  we 


126  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

did  not  continue  to  provide  for  that  defence  ourselves,  they  must 
remain  exposed  to  the  enemy." 

It  has  been  complained  of  Franklin  that  he  was  a 
"  trimmer."  He  was  nothing  so  craven,  but  he 
knew  that  by  sometimes  giving  way,  in  part,  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  moment  the  concession  could  be 
eventually  repaired,  and  a  substantial  victory  pro- 
cured. Thus  did  he  reason  now,  and  he  induced 
the  Assembly  to  draw  up  another  supply  bill.  This 
bill  was  conformable  to  the  Governor's  instructions, 
but  asserted  strenuously  that  no  rights  were  relin- 
quished in  the  compromise,  the  exercise  of  them 
being  only  suspended  "  through  force."  Where- 
upon Captain  Denny  signed  the  new  measure,  and 
the  noble  Earl  (who  doubtless  looked  upon  Ameri- 
cans as  a  lot  of  troublesome,  uncouth,  quarrelsome 
bantams)  returned  his  profuse  thanks  to  Franklin 
and  took  unto  himself  all  the  credit  for  the  action 
of  the  legislature.  Then  the  real  mediator  bethought 
him  of  his  packet — and  lo !  it  had  sailed  away  with 
all  his  sea-stores. 

There  was  no  remedy  but  to  journey  to  New 
York,  there  to  wait  for  the  departure  of  the  next 
vessel.  This  Franklin  accordingly  did,  early  in 
April,  1757,  in  company  with  his  son,  who  was 
to  assist  him  in  England.  But  he  was  destined  to 
linger  some  weary  weeks  before  he  could  get  away 
from  port.  There  were  packets  in  the  harbour  when 
father  and  son  reached  New  York ;  one  of  them, it  was 
reported,  would  sail  in  a  short  time.  A  ' '  short  time  ' ' 
seemed  too  vague  a  date  for  the  precise-minded 
Postmaster-General,  and  he  made  haste  to  inquire 


r-,('2]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  127 

of  Lord  Loudoun  (who  had  returned  from  Philadel- 
phia before  him,  and  who  always  arranged  the  time 
of  sailing),  on  exactly  what  day  the  packet  was  to 
leave.  "  I  have  given  out,"  replied  his  lordship, 
"  that  she  is  to  sail  on  Saturday  next;  but  I  may 
let  you  know,  i'utre  nous,  that  if  you  are  there  by 
Monday  morning,  you  w^ill  be  in  time,  but  do  not 
delay  longer."  Imagine  the  clearance  of  modern 
vessels  being  regulated  in  such  a  dolce  far  nicntc 
fashion.  But  worse  remains  to  be  chronicled.  It 
was  toward  the  end  of  June  before  the  impatient 
Franklin  could  leave  New  York,  for  the  captains  of 
the  packets  had  orders  to  wait  for  Loudoun's  letters, 
' '  which  were  always  to  be  ready  to-morrow. ' '  What 
mattered  it  if  anxious  passengers  walked  the  decks 
until  their  feet  were  sore,  and  if  commerce  suffered  ? 
My  lord's  letters  were  never  ready,  and  until  they 
were,  the  ships  were  to  remain  at  anchorage.  No 
wonder  that  petty  tyrannies  like  these  tended  to 
disturb  the  affectionate  relations  between  America 
and  the  mother  country. 

Very  polite  was  the  General  of  the  forces  to  Frank- 
lin, but  those  letters  remained  unpenned. 

"  Going  myself  one  morning  to  pay  my  respects,"  writes  the  weary 
waiter,  "  I  found  in  his  antechamber  one  Innis,  a  messenger  of 
Philadelphia,  who  had  come  from  thence  express  with  a  paquet  from 
Governor  Denny  for  the  General.  He  delivered  to  me  some  letters 
from  my  friends  there,  which  occasioned  my  enquiring  when  he  was 
to  return,  and  where  he  lodged,  that  I  might  send  some  letters  by 
him.  He  told  me  he  was  ordered  to  call  to-morrow  at  nine  for 
the  General's  answer  to  the  Governor,  and  should  set  off  immediately. 
I  put  my  letters  into  his  hands  the  same  day.  A  fortnight  after  I 
met  him  again  in  the  same  place.     '  So,   you  are  soon  returned. 


128  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

Innis?'  ''Returned !  no,  I  am  XiO\.  gone  ^€i.^  '  IIowso?'  '  I  have 
called  here  by  order  every  morning  these  two  weeks  past  for  his  lord- 
ship's letter  and  it  is  not  yet  ready.'  '  Is  it  possible,  when  he  is  so 
great  a  writer?  for  I  see  him  constantly  at  his  escritoire'  'Yes,' 
says  Innis,  '  but  he  is  like  St.  George  on  the  signs,  always  on  horse- 
back and  never  rides  on.'  " 

At  last  the  General  determined  to  ride  on,  and 
not  to  stop  until  he  had  won  a  mighty  victory 
against  the  French.  He  had  planned  an  expedition 
to  attack  Louisburg,  and  so  set  sail,  with  a  consider- 
able fleet,  on  the  20th  of  June,  intending  to  make  a 
rendezvous  at  Halifax.  The  worst  of  the  matter,  so 
far  as  it  concerned  the  would-be  transatlantic  travel- 
lers, was  that  the  packets  were  ordered  to  proceed 
with  the  fleet  until  such  time  as  Lord  Loudoun  had 
prepared  those  tardy  letters.  The  whole  history  of 
British  rule  in  the  American  colonies  offers  no  more 
exasperating  exhibition  of  stupid  selfishness.  The 
passengers,  too,  were  afraid  that  the  ships  might 
slip  away  at  any  moment,  and  for  six  weeks  they 
remained  at  Sandy  Hook,  not  daring,  as  a  rule,  to 
go  ashore,  and  walking  up  and  down  the  decks 
wondering  when  the  moment  of  deliverance  would 
arrive.  If  Franklin  kept  his  temper,  as  he  seems  to 
have  done,  his  was  indeed  an  angelic  calmness. 
When  the  fleet,  with  the  General  and  his  army  on 
board,  actually  got  off,  the  unfortunate  packets 
followed  obediently  in  the  wake  of  his  Excellency. 

"  We  were  out  five  days  before  we  got  a  letter  with  leave  to  part, 
and  then  our  ship  quitted  the  fleet  and  steered  for  England.  The 
other  two  packets  he  still  detained,  carried  them  with  him  to  Halifax, 
where  he  stayed  some  time  to  exercise  the  men  in  sham  attacks  upon 
sham  forts,  then  altered  his  mind  as  to  besieging  Louisburg,  and  re- 


i7f'2]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  129 

turned  to  New  York,  with  all  his  troops,  together  with  the  two 
paquets  above  mentioned,  and  all  their  passengers  !  " 

It  is  said  that  Lord  Loudoun  decided  to  abandon 
the  attack  on  Louisburg  upon  hearing  that  there 
was  one  more  ship  in  the  French  fleet  than  in  his 
own.  A  fine  man  to  attempt  the  crushing  of  French 
power  in  America!  When  Pitt  became  Prime  Min- 
ister of  England,  he  was  shrewd  enough  to  recall  an 
incompetent  soldier  from  whom  he  could  never  get 
any  satisfactory  information  as  to  military  opera- 
tions. 

The  action,  or  rather  the  non-action,  of  Lord 
Loudoun  regarding  Franklin's  claim  for  money  due 
on  provisions  supplied  Braddock  did  not  tend  to 
increase  the  admiration  of  the  Postmaster-General. 
The  accounts  for  this  transaction  were  presented, 
examined,  and  found  to  be  correct,  and  his  lordship 
promised  to  issue  the  necessary  order  on  the  pay- 
master for  their  settlement.  Franklin,  who  was 
not  likely  to  forget  the  matter,  called  often,  but  was 
as  often  put  off  with  excuses,  until  the  General  finally 
said  he  had,  on  better  consideration,  concluded  "  not 
to  mix  his  accounts  with  those  of  his  predecessors." 
"  When  in  England,"  he  cheerfully  told  the  credi- 
tor, "  you  have  only  to  exhibit  your  accounts  at  the 
Treasury,  and  you  will  be  paid  immediately."  This 
was  truly  exasperating,  particularly  as  Franklin  had 
been  put  to  much  extra  expense  by  his  undesired 
stay  at  New  York,  and  he  was  not  slow  to  intimate 
to  the  noble  lord  the  injustice  of  the  latter's  decision. 
He  also  emphasised  the  fact  that  he  had  charged  no 
commission  for  advancing  the  money,  whereat  Lou- 


130  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

doun  exclaimed,  scoffingly :  "  You  must  not  think 
of  persuading  us  that  you  are  no  gainer;  we  under- 
stand better  those  affairs,  and  know  that  everyone 
concerned  in  supplying  the  army  finds  means,  in  the 
doing  it,  to  fill  his  own  pockets."  Franklin  stoutly 
denied  that  he  had  made  a  farthing  out  of  the  pro- 
visions, but  His  Excellency  (who  doubtless  smuggled 
his  own  little  percentage  out  of  contractors,  and  who 
would  have  made  an  ideal  political  "  boss  "  had  he 
lived  to-day)  remained  unconvinced.  And  the 
debt  ?     It  continued  to  be  a  debt. 

There  was  always  the  element  of  adventure  in  the 
career  of  our  hero,  nor  did  it  fail  him  when  he  crossed 
the  ocean  this  second  time.  The  ship  was  chased 
by  privateers,  whom  she  outsailed,  and  when  just  at 
her  journey's  end,  off  Falmouth,  narrowly  escaped 
destruction.  The  captain  thought  that,  by  making 
a  good  run  in  the  night,  Falmouth  harbour  might 
be  reached  the  next  morning. 

"We  had  a  watchman  placed  in  the  bow  to  whom  they  often 
called,  '  Look  well  out  before  there'  and  he  as  often  answered,  ^  Ay, 
ay,'  but  perhaps  had  his  eyes  shut,  and  was  half-asleep  at  the  time, 
they  sometimes  answering,  as  is  said,  mechanically  ;  for  he  did  not 
see  a  light  just  before  us,  which  had  been  hid  by  the  studding-sails 
from  the  man  at  the  helm,  and  from  the  rest  of  the  watch,  but  by  an 
accidental  yaw  of  the  ship  was  discovered,  and  occasioned  a  great 
alarm,  we  being  very  near  it,  the  light  appearing  to  me  as  big  as  a 
cart-wheel.  It  was  midnight,  and  our  captain  fast  asleep  ;  but  Cap- 
tain Kennedy,  jumping  upon  deck,  and  seeing  the  danger,  ordered 
the  ship  to  wear  round,  all  sails  standing — an  operation  dangerous 
to  the  masts,  but  it  carried  us  clear,  and  we  escaped  shipwreck,  for 
we  were  running  right  upon  the  rocks  on  which  the  light-house  was 
erected." 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  1757,  that  Frank- 


1762]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  131 

Hn  and  his  son  reached  London.  After  a  brief  stay 
with  the  learned  Peter  Collinson,  at  whose  house  he 
met  many  distinguished  men,  who  called  to  pay 
their  devoirs  to  the  scientist  from  the  New  World, 
he  obtained  comfortable  lodgings  near  the  Strand, 
set  up  a  carriage,  that  he  might  the  better  support 
his  dignity  as  agent  for  Tennsylvania,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  all-important  business  of  battling  with 
the  Penns.  Old  times,  however,  were  not  forgotten 
in  the  stress  of  politics;  he  was  glad  to  see  James 
Ralph  once  again,  and  found  nothing  more  pleas- 
antly stimulating  to  his  memory  than  a  visit  to 
Watts's  printing-house  near  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields, 
where  he  had  worked  during  part  of  his  first  London 
experience.  The  theatrical  feature  of  the  return  to 
the  printing-house  was  the  discovery  there  of  his  old 
press,  and  his  drinking  "  Success  to  Printing,"  in  a 
gallon  of  beer  shared  with  two  journeymen.  Well 
might  he  toast  a  trade  which  had  been  of  such  aid 
to  him,  and  well,  too,  might  he  rejoice  at  the  con- 
trast between  the  Benjamin  of  1757  and  the  Ben  of 
the  past. 

It  was  suggested  to  Franklin,  by  one  of  his  friends 
(Dr.  Fothergill),  that  he  should  defer  putting  the 
complaints  of  the  Pennsylvania  legislature  before 
the  Government  until  a  personal  interview  should  be 
had  with  the  proprietaries,  "  who  might  possibly  be 
induced  by  the  interposition  and  persuasion  of  some 
private  friends  to  accommodate  matters  amicably." 
In  the  meantime  Lord  Granville,  President  of  the 
Council,  sent  for  the  agent,  received  him  with  great 
civility,  questioned  him  as  to  the  state  of  affairs  in 


132  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

America,  and  finally  burst  out  with  this  British 
assertion : 

"  You  Americans,  sir,  have  wrong  ideas  of  the  nature  of  your  con- 
stitution ;  you  contend  that  the  King's  instructions  to  his  governors 
are  not  laws,  and  think  yourselves  at  liberty  to  regard  or  disregard 
them  at  your  discretion.  But  those  instructions  are  not  like  the 
pocket  instructions  given  to  a  minister  going  abroad,  for  regulating 
his  conduct  in  some  trifling  point  of  ceremony.  They  are  first  drawn 
up  by  judges  learned  in  the  laws  ;  they  are  then  considered,  debated, 
and  perhaps  amended  in  Council,  after  which  they  are  signed  by  the 
King.  They  are  then,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  you,  the  law  of  the 
land,  for  the  King  is  the  Legislator  of  the  Colonies." 

In  Other  words,  Granville  would  treat  the  colonies 
as  he  might  some  barbaric,  conquered  provinces  un- 
fit to  legislate  for  themselves.  'T  was  John  Bull  in 
his  most  short-sighted,  least  prepossessing  mood. 

If  Franklin  felt  anger  in  his  heart  he  was  too  wise 
to  show  any  heat ;  he  replied  politely,  but  strongly, 
and  to  the  purpose,*  This  idea  of  government  by 
instruction,  he  told  his  lordship,  was  new  doctrine. 
He  had  always  understood  from  the  charters  of 
the  colonies  that  the  laws  were  to  be  made  by  the 
Assemblies,  "  to  be  presented,  indeed,  to  the  King 
for  his  royal  assent,  but  that  being  once  given  the 
King  could  not  repeal  or  alter  them."  And  "  as 
the  Assemblies  could  not  make  permanent  laws  with- 
out his  assent,  so  neither  could  he  make  a  law  for 
them  without  theirs."  Granville  assured  Franklin 
that  he  was  totally  mistaken  in  such  a  theory,  but 
the  American  remained  firm  in  his  conviction,  and 
felt  so  uneasy  at  his  lordship's  views  that  he  went 

*  See  the  brief  narrative  supplementary  to  the  Autobiography,  writ- 
ten during  the  last  year  of  Franklin's  life. 


1762]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  133 

home  to  his  lodgings  and  wrote  down  the  wliole 
conversation.  If  the  principle  that  the  King  was 
the  legislator  of  the  colonies  should  be  endorsed  at 
court,  what  a  series  of  misfortunes  must  be  in  store 
for  the  provinces! 

Then  came  the  meeting  with  the  two  proprietors 
at  the  house  of  Thomas  Penn,  in  Spring  Garden. 
The  feelings  of  the  brothers  as  they  faced  their 
enemy,  without  whose  opposition  they  might  have 
found  life  the  pleasanter  andPennsylvanians  the  more 
submissive,  may  be  understood  by  the  least  imagin- 
ative reader.  The  agent  was  determined  to  gain  his 
point,  while  the  Penns,  on  their  side,  were  equally 
determined  to  retain  their  powers  intact  and  to 
budge  not  an  inch  from  the  feudal  platform  of  rights 
upon  which  they  stood.  On  the  surface,  however, 
all  was  peaceful,  with  a  hypocritical  air,  on  the  part 
of  the  proprietors,  of  being  willing  to  do  whatever 
was  just  in  the  momentous  matter.  "  The  conver- 
sation at  first  consisted  of  mutual  declarations  of  dis- 
position to  reasonable  accommodations,"  reports 
Franklin,  "  but  I  suppose  each  party  had  its  own 
ideas  of  what  should  be  meant  by  reasonable S' 

When  the  real  questions  at  issue  came  to  be  dis- 
cussed the  veneer  of  politeness  vanished  from  the 
features  of  the  Penns;  they  grew  obstinate  and 
arrogant. 

"The  proprietaries  justified  their  conduct  as  well  as  they  could 
and  I  the  Assembly's.  We  now  appeared  very  wide,  and  so  far 
from  each  other  in  our  opinions  as  to  discourage  all  hope  of  agree- 
ment. However,  it  was  concluded  that  I  should  give  them  the 
heads  of  our  complaints  in  writing,  and  they  promised  then  to  con- 
sider them.' 


134  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

The  "  heads  of  complaint  "  which  the  agent  drew 
up  set  forth  that  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania, 
having  the  right  to  make  laws  under  its  charter,  was 
practically  deprived  of  that  power  by  the  "  instruc- 
tions "  of  the  proprietaries;  that  the  Assembly, 
having  the  right  to  raise  or  withhold  supplies,  had 
that  right  interfered  with  by  the  self-same  "  instruct 
tions  "  ;  that  the  proprietary  estates  should  be  taxed 
like  other  estates  in  the  province ;  and  that  these 
several  injustices  should  be  remedied  by  the  pro- 
prietors aforesaid.  It  was  waste  of  time  to  make 
out  this  complaint;  the  Penns  had  no  intention  of 
heeding  it ;  their  one  idea  was  to  gain  time,  shilly- 
shally, and  so  end  by  doing  nothing.  Thus  they  put 
the  paper  into  the  hands  of  their  solicitor,  Ferdinand 
John  Paris,  who  managed  all  their  law  business, 
and  who  wrote  the  messages,  pacific  or  otherwise, 
which   they  were   wont  to  send  to  the  Assembly. 

"  He  was  a  proud,  angry  man,  and  as  I  had  occasionally  in  the 
answers  of  the  Assembly  treated  his  papers  with  some  severity,  they 
being  really  weak  in  point  of  argument  and  haughty  in  expression,  he 
had  conceived  a  mortal  enmity  to  me,  which  discovering  itself  wher- 
ever we  met,  I  declined  the  proprietary's  proposal  that  he  and  I 
should  discuss  the  heads  of  complaint  between  our  two  selves  [i.  e., 
between  Paris  and  Franklin]  and  refused  treating  with  anyone  but 
them.  They  then  by  his  advice  put  the  paper  into  the  hands  of  the 
Attorney  and  Solicitor-General  for  their  opinion  and  counsel  upon  it, 
where  it  lay  unanswered  a  year  wanting  eight  days,  during  which 
time  I  made  frequent  demands  of  an  answer  from  the  proprietaries, 
but  without  obtaining  any  other  than  that  they  had  not  yet  received 
the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  and  Solicitor-General.  What  it  was 
when  they  did  receive  it  I  never  learnt,  for  they  did  not  communicate 
it  to  me,  but  sent  a  long  message  to  the  Assembly  drawn  and  signed 
by  Paris,  reciting  my  paper,  complaining  of  its  want  of  formality,  as 


n62]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  135 

a  rudeness  on  my  part,  and  giving  a  flimsy  justification  of  their  con- 
duct, adding  that  they  should  be  willing  to  accommodate  matters  if 
the  Assembly  would  send  out  some  person  of  candour  to  treat  with 
them  for  that  purpose,  intimating  thereby  that  I  was  not  such," 

The  offender  concluded  that  the  alleged  rudeness 
was,  probably,  his  failure  to  address  the  Penns  as 

True  and  Absolute  Proprietaries  of  the  Province 
of  Pennsylvania." 

But  Franklin  has  taken  us  on  too  rapidly  in  his 
little  narrative,  and  has  forgotten  to  tell  us  that  after 
his  first  skirmish  with  the  two  landlords  he  sank 
down  with  an  illness  which  lasted  eight  long,  weary 
weeks.  He  describes  his  colds  and  fever,  however, 
in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Franklin,  and  relates  how  the 
doctor  cupped  him  on  the  back  of  the  head,  and 
dosed  him  with  so  much  bark  that  he  "  began  to 
abhor  it."  Then  came  health  again,  and  with  it  the 
determination  to  fight  the  Penns  to  the  bitter  end. 
He  tried  to  obtain  an  audience  with  Mr.  Pitt,  now 
Prime  Minister,  but  failed ;  he  began,  with  his  son, 
to  arrange  an  "  Historical  Review  "  of  the  long- 
standing contest  between  the  governors  and  the  As- 
sembly of  Pennsylvania;  and  he  bided  his  time. 
His  fame  in  the  magic  field  of  electricity  made  for 
him  hosts  of  friends  in  England,  and  as  he  was  no 
lover  of  solitude  he  was  quick  to  seize  the  chances 
of  social  relaxation  which  came,  as  it  were,  to  his 
unpretentious  door.  His  pleasures  were  many  and 
innocent.  He  put  up  an  electrical  machine  at  his 
lodgings,  he  dined  with  the  learned,  dabbled  in 
music,  heard  Handel  play,  delighted  in  the  acting 
of  Garrick,  studied,  wrote,  and  visited  Cambridge 


136  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

University,  where  he  was  made  much  of  by  the 
Chancellor  and  the  lesser  dignitaries.  A  little  later 
he  would  receive  a  degree  from  the  University  of 
St.  Andrew,*  and  then  Dr.  Franklin  would  pass  a 
few  pleasant  weeks  in  Scotland.  His  was,  indeed, 
one  of  those  happy  spirits  wherein  great  capacity 
for  work  was  blended  with  an  equal  capacity  for  en- 
joyment. Furthermore,  he  had  the  faculty  of  doing 
the  work  and  procuring  the  enjoyment  almost  at 
the  same  moment. 

While  Franklin  was  keeping  those  twinkling  eyes 
of  his  upon  the  proprietaries,  events  unexpectedly 
favourable  to  his  cause  were  happening  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Chief  among  them  was  the  consent  of  the 
now  thoroughly  tired-out  and  exasperated  Governor 
Denny  to  a  bill  taxing  the  Penn  estates.  He  was 
acting  in  radical  defiance  of  those  "  instructions," 
but  the  man  was  only  human;  the  warfare  carried 
on  by  the  Assembly  had  become  more  bitter;  his 
salary  was  long  in  arrears,  and  his  patience,  never 
remarkable  in  quantity,  had  become  exhausted. 
When  the  Penns  heard  of  this  surrender  they  de- 
termined to  dismiss  Denny  from  his  post,  and  re- 
solved to  keep  their  decision  secret  until  a  successor 
was  appointed. f  The  agent  from  Pennsylvania  was, 
however,  entirely  too  astute  a  diplomat  to  miss  so 
important  a  piece  of  news,  and  no  sooner  had  he 
learned  of  the  proprietors'  intention  than  he  wrote 


*  Before  he  left  England  Franklin  received  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws  from  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Edinburgh. 

f  James  Hamilton,  who  had  once  before  been  governor  of  th^ 
province,  finally  succeeded  Denny. 


1762]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  137 

of  it  to  his  wife,  with  a  gentle  hint  that  she  might 
spread  the  report  far  and  wide. 

The  action  of  Governor  Denny  changed  the  battle- 
ground of  the  Assembly-Penn  contest,  while  it  added 
a  hundred-fold  to  the  bitterness  of  the  strife.  Per- 
sonal appeals  to  the  proprietaries  were  now  of  no 
use;  the  controversy  was  to  be  brought  before  the 
Privy  Council,  which  august  body  was  to  decide 
whether  or  not  the  bill  signed  by  Denny  and  ob- 
jected to  by  his  masters  should  be  recommended  for 
the  royal  sanction.  This  measure  granted  to  his 
Majesty  the  sum  of  i^  100,000,  and  provided  for 
striking  the  same  in  bills  of  credit,  etc.,  "  by  a  tax 
on  all  estates,  real  and  personal."  It  goes  without 
the  saying  that  the  Penn  brothers,  who  only  loved 
Pennsylvania  for  the  money  they  could  make  out  of 
her,  looked  with  jaundiced  eyes  upon  so  heretical  a 
piece  of  legislation.  They  w^ere  wise  enough  to  see 
the  necessity  of  making  of  the  bill  a  test  case,  and 
accordingly  two  lawyers  were  engaged  to  represent 
them  before  the  Privy  Council.  Franklin  was  not 
to  be  outdone  in  point  of  legal  precautions;  he,  too, 
employed  counsel.  By  this  time  the  year  1760  had 
more  than  begun. 

Franklin  tells  the  story  of  the  struggle  in  a  few 
words,  leaving  out  many  of  the  details  and  ignoring 
the  reports  of  the  Lords  of  Committee,  so  that  to 
read  what  he  says  one  might  suppose  the  Council 
had  disposed  of  the  matter  in  a  day.  His  descrip- 
tion is,  however,  graphic  and  to  the  point : 

"They  [counsel  for  the  proprietors]  alleged  that  the  act  was  in- 
tended to  load  the  proprietary  estate  iu  order  to  spare  those  of  the 


138  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

people,  and,  that  if  it  were  suffered  to  continue  in  force,  and  the 
proprietaries,  who  were  in  odium  with  the  people,  left  to  their  mercy 
in  proportioning  the  taxes,  they  would  inevitably  be  ruined.  We  re- 
plied that  the  act  had  no  such  intention,  and  would  have  no  such 
effect.  That  the  assessors  were  honest  and  discreet  men  under  an 
oath  to  assess  fairly  and  equitably,  and  that  any  advantage  each  of 
them  might  expect  in  lessening  his  own  tax  by  augmenting  that  of 
the  proprietaries  was  too  trifling  to  induce  them  to  perjure  them- 
selves. ...  On  this,  Lord  Mansfield,  one  of  the  council,  rose, 
and  beckoning  me  took  me  into  the  clerk's  chamber,  while  the  law- 
yers were  pleading,  and  asked  me  if  I  was  really  of  opinion  that  no 
injury  would  be  done  the  proprietary  estate  in  the  execution  of  the 
act.  I  said,  '  Certainly.'  '  Then,'  says  he,  '  you  can  have  little  ob- 
jection to  enter  into  an  engagement  to  assure  that  point.'  I  an- 
swered, '  None  at  all.'  He  then  called  in  Paris,  and  after  some 
discourse,  his  lordship's  proposition  was  accepted  on  both  sides  ;  a 
paper  to  the  purpose  was  drawn  up  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Council, 
which  I  signed  with  Mr.  Charles,  who  was  also  an  Agent  of  the 
Province  for  their  ordinary  affairs,  when  Lord  Mansfield  returned  to 
the  Council  Chamber,  where  finally  the  law  was  allowed  to  pass.  Some 
changes  were  however  recommended  and  we  also  engaged  they  should 
be  made  by  a  subsequent  law,  but  the  Assembly  did  not  think  them 
necessary." 

The  narrator  does  himself  one  gross  injustice  in 
that  he  gives  not  an  inkHng  of  his  own  cleverness  in 
winning  this  great  victory  over  the  proprietaries. 
For  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  before  the  Privy 
Councillors  agreed  to  recommend  the  bill  for  the 
King's  approval  their  Lords  of  Committee  had  first 
submitted  a  voluminous  report  reviewing  the  argu- 
ments in  the  case,  and  concluding  that  the  measure 
was  "  offensive  to  natural  justice,  to  the  laws  of 
England,  and  to  the  royal  prerogative."  Then 
note  the  diplomacy  of  the  agent,  in  whose  bright  lexi- 
con the  word  "  failure"  had  no  melancholy  place. 
He  set  about  to  have  the  report  reconsidered,  and 


1762]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  139 

undertook  that  if  the  bill  were  approved  the  Assem- 
bly of  Pennsylvania  should  pass  an  act  exempting 
from  assessment  the  unsurveyed  waste  lands  of  the 
proprietaries  and  making  certain  other  concessions. 
Most  of  these  concessions  really  amounted  to 
nothing,  and  the  Assembly  never  thought  fit  to 
make  them  (contending,  among  other  things,  that 
the  unsurveyed  waste  lands  of  the  Penns  never  had 
been  taxed),  but  they  illustrate  Franklin's  energy  in 
striving  to  set  aside  an  unfavourable  verdict.  One 
might  suppose  from  his  own  modest  account  that 
the  initiative  in  the  matter  had  come  from  Lord 
Mansfield,  and  that  the  whole  point  at  issue  had 
been  settled  in  a  day.  As  it  was,  the  Lords  of 
Committee  made  a  second  report  stating  that  in 
view  of  the  amendments  or  concessions  proposed  it 
was  desirable  to  leave  the  act  unrepealed.  King 
George  IL,  then  on  the  verge  of  the  grave,  ap- 
pended his  royal  signature ;  the  arrogance  of  the 
Penns  received  a  richly  deserved  rebuke.  Well  for 
the  province  was  it  that  Franklin  had  persevered. 
He  had  indicated  a  principle,  and,  incidentally,  pre- 
vented the  financial  panic  which  must  have  suc- 
ceeded a  triumph  of  the  proprietaries.  The  bills 
for  the  ;^  100,000  appropriated  in  the  act  were 
already  in  circulation. 

The  victory  was  hailed  with  delight  when  news  of 
it  reached  Philadelphia,  where  only  the  upholders 
of  the  proprietary  interests — not  an  insignificant 
clique,  by  the  way — failed  to  share  in  the  rejoicing. 
We  may  take  it  for  granted  that  Chief-Justice  Allen 
was  not  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  joined  in  the 


140  Benjamin  Franklin  [1756- 

paean  of  praise  in  honour  of  the  agent  from  his  pro- 
vince, for  he  was  no  admirer  of  the  latter,  and  he 
was  to  write  somewhat  later  (1762),  to  the  Messrs. 
Barclay  of  London:  "  One  would  fain  hope  his 
[Franklin's]  almost  insatiable  ambition  is  pretty  near 
Satisfied  by  his  parading  about  England,  at  the 
province's  Expense  for  these  five  years  past,  which 
now  appears  in  a  different  Light  to  our  patriots  than 
formerly,  especially,  as  he  has  already  stayed  near 
two  years  longer  than  they  expected." 

The  abuse  of  the  proprietary  party  could  not 
seriously  disturb  the  serenity  of  the  philosopher, 
who  must  have  realised  that  blame  from  that  quarter 
was  a  sort  of  barometer  showing  how  well  or  how  ill 
he  had  succeeded  in  battling  for  the  rights  of  liberty- 
loving  Pennsylvanians.  The  higher  rose  the  cries 
of  the  opposition  the  more  clearly  were  his  own 
talents  emphasised.  No  amount  of  vituperation 
could  prevent  his  enjoyment  of  English  life,  or 
abate  one  jot  of  the  zest  with  which  he  observed  all 
that  was  going  on  about  him.  Nothing  had  inter- 
ested him  more  than  the  reports,  as  they  came  in 
glorious  succession,  of  the  success  of  British  arms  in 
his  own  continent — the  abandonment  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne,  the  surrender  of  Louisburg,  the  capture  of 
Quebec,  and  finally,  the  taking,  in  September,  1760, 
of  Montreal.  Canada  had  been  wrested  from  the 
French,  so  had  possessions  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  and  it  became  a  much-debated  question  as 
to  whether  it  would  not  be  better  for  England  to 
retain  the  newly  acquired  Guadaloupe  and  give  up 
Canada!     An  absurd  proposition,  yet  there  actually 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 


FROM  A  PAINTING  BY  CHARLES  WILLSON   PEALE,    OWNED    BY  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


1762]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  141 

rose  up  a  party  which  advised  that  preference  be 
given  to  Guadaloupe.  This  was  too  much  for 
Frankhn,  who  hastened  to  give  his  views,  although 
not  under  his  own  signature,  as  to  the  importance 
of  keeping  the  conquered  American  territory.  As 
the  subject  was  dear  to  his  heart,  the  pamphlet  had 
an  air  of  sincerity  and  a  logic  that  made  a  deep  im- 
pression in  circles  both  ministerial  and  unofficial. 
Two  pamphlets  had  preceded  Franklin's,  one  of 
them,  by  the  Earl  of  Bath,  favouring  the  retention 
of  Canada,  and  the  other,  attributed  either  to  Wil- 
liam Burke  or  to  Edmund  Burke,  pleading  for 
Guadaloupe.  The  next  incident  in  the  controversy 
was  a  reply  to  Franklin's  paper,  wherein  the  writer 
said  he  would  address  the  unknown  author,  because 
of  all  those  who  had  spoken  in  behalf  of  Canada, 
"he  is  clearly  the  ablest,  the  most  ingenious,  the 
most  dexterous,  and  the  most  perfectly  acquainted 
with  the  fort  and  faibic  of  the  argument,  and  we 
may  therefore  conclude  that  he  has  said  everything 
in  the  best  manner  that  the  cause  would  bear." 
The  man  thus  complimented  required  not  the  fame 
of  his  name  to  make  his  reasonings  worthy  of  re- 
spect.    They  were  eloquent  without  a  signature. 

Verily,  the  philosopher  could  no  more  have  ceased 
to  interest  himself  in  public  affairs  than  he  could 
have  let  that  magnificent  brain  of  his  lapse  into  a 
state  of  idleness.  Thus  it  was  that  he  watched  in- 
tently the  progress  of  the  French  war,  and  spoke 
very  strongly  against  the  policy  of  concluding  a 
peace  that  might  prove  too  advantageous  to  the 
enemy.     To   enforce  this  view  he  resorted  to  an 


142  Benjamin  Franklin  1756- 

ingenious  expedient,  by  sending  to  the  London 
Chronicle  what  purported  to  be  an  extract  from  an 
old  quarto  volume  found  by  him  in  a  bookstall. 
The  book,  he  said,  bore  the  date  of  1629,  and  con- 
tained discourses  addressed  to  a  King  of  Spain.  One 
of  these  discourses  treated  of  "  The  Means  of  dis- 
posing the  Enemie  to  Peace."  Franklin  asked 
leave  to  quote  it,  as  being  "  so  apropos  to  our 
present  situation  (only  changing  Spain  for  France) 
that  I  think  it  well  worth  general  attention  and  ob- 
servation, as  it  discovers  the  arts  of  our  enemies,  and 
may  therefore  help  in  some  degree  to  put  us  on  our 
guard  against  them."  The  supposed  writer  of  the 
book  advised  the  bribing  of  writers,  speakers,  and 
men  of  learning  to  recommend  a  peace  dishonourable 
to  their  own  victorious  country,  so  that  the  van- 
quished power  might  gain,  by  insidious  means,  what 
it  could  not  effect  in  the  field.  The  inference  was, 
of  course,  that  France  was  trying  by  gold  to  corrupt 
influential  Englishmen  to  advocate  an  easy  peace, 
and  the  alleged  "  discourse  "  stirred  up  more  than 
a  flutter  of  interest,  even  if  it  led  to  nothing  tangible. 
George  III.,  the  new  King,  was  strenuously  for 
peace,  and  even  the  great  Pitt  had  to  bend  beneath 
the  autocratic  obstinacy  of  the  monarch  whose 
mother  had  so  often  said  to  him:  "  George,  be  a 
King!  " 

It  was  this  same  George  whom  Franklin,  after  re- 
turning from  a  trip  to  Holland  and  Flanders,  saw 
crowned  in  regal  state.  Little  did  the  subject  dream 
that  a  day  was  to  come  when  the  young  sovereign, 
for  whom  he  cherished  such  respect  and  admiration, 


1762]         A  Battle  with  the  Penns  i43 

would  be  numbered  among  the  greatest  of  his 
enemies. 

Now,  however,  there  was  nothing  but  love  in  the 
American's  heart  for  his  King  and  mother  country. 
When  he  finally  tore  himself  away  from  England, 
and  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  home  (August. 
1762),  Franklin  wrote  from  Portsmouth  to  his  friend 
Lord  Kames : 

"  I  am  now  waiting  here  only  for  a  wind  to  waft  me  to  America, 
but  cannot  leave  this  happy  island  and  my  friends  in  it  without  ex- 
treme regret,  though  I  am  going  to  a  country  and  a  people  that  I 
love.  I  am  going  from  the  old  world  to  the  new  ;  and  I  fancy  I  feel 
like  those  who  are  leaving  this  world  for  the  next  :  grief  at  the  part- 
ing ;  fear  of  the  passage  ;  hope  of  the  future." 

And  as  if  to  cement  the  tie  between  the  returning 
voyager  and  the  kin  he  was  leaving  behind,  the 
English  Government  appointed  his  son  William, 
who  had  become  a  pronounced  favourite  abroad,  to 
the  vacant  governorship  of  New  Jersey.  It  was  an 
honour  which  would  have  for  its  bitter  end  the 
estrangement  of  father  and  son,  but  of  such  2l  fijiale 
there  was  now  no  suspicion.  The  prospect  was 
serene  and  peaceful.  The  clouds  of  revolution  had 
not  begun  to  gather. 


S^w^^S 

KiX  *•  X  X 

t  x„x,  X  H 

5  «x-4x< 

?x4*-^8 

B  x:.x  x.x 

K.X  x.x  B 

SS-x:4- 

ftx^:  J 

W  it,  jc.x  X 

X  X.X  X  0 

8|xi|.x, 

:5c4xi  8 

KlllU|>x:X-' 

fewSPggBWg«a 

CHAPTER  VI 

IN   THORNY   PATHS 

1 762- 1 765 

F  Franklin,  upon  reaching  home  early 
in  November,  1762,  nursed  the 
thought  that  he  might  now  devote 
himself  to  a  leisurely  existence,  free 
of  public  care,  he  was  destined  to 
have  the  illusion  rudely  dispelled.  At  first,  how- 
ever, all  things  pointed  to  a  season  of  peace  and 
quiet  for  a  man  who,  after  valiantly  serving  his 
countrymen  and  attaining  the  comfortable  age  of 
fifty-six,  had  a  right  to  expect  a  lull  in  the  storm 
and  stress  of  life.  His  return,  and  the  greeting  he 
received,  must  have  warmed  a  heart  so  peculiarly 
susceptible  to  the  admiration  of  those  about  him, 
and  have  duly  compensated  for  the  honours  which 
he  had  left  behind  in  hospitable  England.  Mrs. 
Franklin  was  of  good  health,  and  delighted,  in  a 
calm,  equable  way,  to  see  her  lord  and  master; 
Sarah,  the  daughter,  had  grown  into  an  attractive, 
accomplished  woman,  and  old  friends  proved,  de- 
spite the  mutterings  of  the  proprietary  party,  as 
hearty  and  affectionate  as  ever.     Nay,  they  crowded 

144 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  H5 

into  the  house  of  the  great  doctor,  and  were  not 
long  in  informing  him  that  during  his  voyage  across 
the  ocean  he  had  once  more  been  elected  a  member 
of  the  Assembl3^  When  he  appeared  before  his 
fellow-legislators,  the  majority  of  whom  felt  the 
liveliest  gratitude  for  this  successful  wrestler  with 
the  stubborn  Penns,  he  must  have  been  hailed  with 
unstinted  enthusiasm.  He  duly  received  the  thanks 
of  the  Assembly,  official  and  private,  and  got  a  still 
more  practical  acknowledgment  of  services  rendered 
in  a  grant  of  ^^"3000  sterling.  The  Speaker  was 
directed  to  publicly  convey  the  aforesaid  thanks  to 
the  agent,  and,  having  done  so,  there  came  a  "  re- 
spectful "  reply  from  the  recipient,  who,  addressing 
himself  to  the  chair,  said  that  "  he  was  thankful  to 
the  House  for  the  very  handsome  and  generous 
allowance  they  had  been  pleased  to  make  him,"  but 
that  their  approbation  was,  in  his  estimation,  "  far 
above  every  other  kind  of  recompense."  A  very 
pretty  example  of  old-fashioned  courtesy,  yet  there 
was  a  welcome  place  in  the  philosopher's  strong-box 
for  that  trifle  of  ;^ 3000  sterling.  His  expenses  in 
England  had  been  considerable  ;  reimbursement  was 
in  order. 

By  this  time  William  Franklin  had  gotten  back 
from  London,  bringing  with  him  a  bride  and  his 
commission  as  Governor  of  New  Jersey.  The  greet- 
ings between  father  and  son  were  of  an  affectionate 
character.  The  former  had  cherished  for  the  young 
man  matrimonial  hopes  in  which  the  present  Mrs. 
William,  a  lady  from  the  West  Indies,  played  no 
part,  but  that  was  an  old  story  now,  and  the  new- 


14^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

comer  found  her  father-in-law  all  that  was  affable. 
A  little  later  the  Postmaster-General — for  he  had  not 
resigned  his  position — made  an  official  tour  of  the 
northern  colonies,  and  after  covering  sixteen  hun- 
dred miles  right  pleasantly,  he  drove  back  to  Phila- 
delphia, there  to  recuperate  from  the  jolts  and  jars 
of  country  roads.  But  there  was  to  be  no  rest ; 
before  many  days  Franklin  would  be  back  again  in 
that  public  harness  which  was  to  enclose  him  until 
near  the  very  end.  The  Indians  had  begun  a  bloody 
warfare  along  the  w^estern  frontier  of  the  colonies; 
murder  and  the  torch  played  grim  pranks  with  the 
settlers  in  the  unprotected  border  counties  of  Penn- 
sylvania; fear  reigned  supreme,  and  so,  too,  did  the 
spirit  of  retaliation.  To  avenge  themselves  upon 
the  enemy  for  the  destruction  of  their  companions, 
the  burning  of  their  homes,  and  the  taking  of  un- 
fortunate women  and  children  into  captivity,  was 
the  first  thought  of  the  frontiersmen ;  to  avenge 
themselves  upon  a  few  inoffensive  savages,  who  had 
learned  the  peaceful  ways  of  civilisation,  was  their 
second  and  more  unnatural  thought.  The  Scotch- 
Irish  settlers  of  Lancaster  County,  more  particularly 
the  hot-headed  "  Paxton  boys  "  (who  hailed  from 
the  township  of  Paxton  or  Paxtang),  longed  for  the 
lives  of  the  poor,  harmless  Indians  of  Bethlehem,  of 
Nazareth,  or  of  the  manor  of  Conestoga — quiet, 
well-behaved  little  communities  by  no  means  so 
dangerous  to  the  colony  as  were  the  Paxton  rowdies 
themselves. 

The  Indians  at  Conestoga  had  dwindled  to  twenty 
souls,  seven  men,   five  women,  and  eight   children. 


1765] 


In  Thorny  Paths  H7 


now  the  sad  remnant  of  a  once  powerful  tribe  of  the 
Six  Nations.  Every  time  that  a  new  governor 
arrived  in  the  province  it  was  their  custom  to  send 
him  an  address  of  welcome  and  fealty;  only  a  few 
weeks  before  (October,  1763)  had  they  tendered 
their  best  wishes  to  John  Penn,  the  son  of  Richard 
Penn,  when  that  worthy  came  across  the  water  to 
succeed  James  Hamilton  in  the  gubernatorial  chair, 
and  to  thus  illustrate  the  condescension  and  mag- 
nanimity of  the  long-suffering  proprietary.  But 
they  would  soon  depart  from  the  jurisdiction  of  any 
earthly  governor;  a  brutal  massacre,  destined  to 
mark  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  pages  in  the  history 
of  Pennsylvania,  would  annihilate  the  last  of  the 
Susquehannocks.  The  "  Paxton  boys,"  who  had 
vowed  their  destruction,  sallied  forth  one  night, 
fifty-seven  well-armed  and  mounted  ruffians,  and 
never  stopped  riding  until  they  reached  Conestoga 
at  the  dawn  of  day.  Without  warning  they  broke 
into  the  huts  of  the  red  men,  the  one  idea  being  to 
give  no  quarter,  and  thus  to  avenge  outrages  for 
which  the  Susquehannocks  were  in  nowise  respon- 
sible. To  the  Paxtons  the  only  good  Indians  were 
dead  Indians — all  who  lived  should  be  put  out  of 
the  world  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  Only  three  men,  two  women  and  a  young  boy  were  found  at 
home,  the  rest  being  out  among  the  neighbouring  white  people  [as 
Franklin  afterward  told  the  painful  story] — some  to  sell  the  baskets, 
brooms  and  bowls  they  manufactured,  and  others  on  other  occasions. 
These  poor  defenceless  creatures  were  immediately  fired  upon, 
stabbed,  and  hatcheted  to  death  !  The  good  Shehaes  [the  old  man 
of  the  tribe,  who  had  known  William  Penn]  among  the  rest,  cut  to 
pieces  in  his  bed.     All  of  them  were  scalped  and  otherwise  horribly 


148  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

mangled.  Then  their  huts  were  set  on  fire  and  most  of  them  burnt 
down.  Then  the  troop,  pleased  with  their  own  conduct  and  bravery, 
but  enraged  that  any  of  the  poor  Indians  had  escaped  the  massacre, 
rode  off,  and  in  small  parties,  by  different  roads,  went  home.  The 
universal  concern  of  the  neighbouring  white  people,  on  hearing  of 
this  event,  and  the  lamentations  of  the  younger  Indians,  when  they 
returned  and  saw  the  desolation,  and  the  butchered,  half-burnt 
bodies  of  their  murdered  parents  and  other  relations,  cannot  well  be 
expressed." 

The  fourteen  remaining  Indians  were  taken  to 
Lancaster,  where  they  were  placed  in  the  work- 
house, "  a  strong  building,"  for  their  better  protec- 
tion. When  the  news  of  the  massacre  reached 
Philadelphia  (filling  Franklin  and  many  of  his  friends 
with  horror,  and  being  excused  by  some  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  a  matter  of  necessity).  Governor 
Penn  issued,  three  days  before  the  pacific  feast  of 
Christmas,  a  ringing,  if  useless,  proclamation.  All 
the  officers  of  the  provinces,  from  the  judges  down, 
were  ordered  to  seek  out  the  offenders,  so  that  they 
might  be  "  proceeded  against  according  to  law." 
But  the  "  Paxton  boys  "  considered  themselves 
above  proclamations,  just  as  the  modern  lynchers 
seek  to  rise  above  the  law.  They  rode  to  Lancas- 
ter, armed  as  before,  "  went  directly  to  the  work- 
house, and  by  violence  broke  open  the  door,  and 
entered  with  the  utmost  fury  in  their  countenances. 
When  the  poor  wretches  saw  they  had  no  protection 
nigh,  nor  could  possibly  escape,  and  being  without 
the  least  weapon  for  defence,  they  divided  into  their 
little  families,  the  children  clinging  to  the  parents  "  ; 
— again  we  quote  Franklin — "  they  fell  on  their 
knees,  protested  their  innocence,  declared  their  love 


»765l  In  Thorny  Paths  149 

to  the  Eiif^lish,  and  that  in  their  whole  lives  they 
had  never  done  them  injury;  and  in  this  posture 
they  all  received  the  hatchet.  Men,  women,  and 
little  children  were  every  one  inhumanly  murdered 
in  cold  blood !  The  barbarous  men  who  committed 
the  atrocious  fact,  in  defiance  of  government,  of 
all  laws  human  and  divine,  and  to  the  eternal  dis- 
grace of  their  country  and  colour,  then  mounted 
their  horses,  huzzaed  in  triumph,  as  if  they  had 
gained  a  victory,  and  rode  off  iiuDiolestcd !  "  Cer- 
tainly the  cowardly  onslaught  of  the  Paxton  gang 
was  a  disgrace  to  what  we  are  pleased  to  term 
civilisation,  and  it  so  excited  the  indignation  of 
Franklin  that  when  he  came  to  write  his  Narrative 
of  tlic  Late  Massacres  in  Lancaster  County,  from 
which  we  have  just  given  extracts,  he  stigmatised 
the  episode  as  one  whose  "guilt  will  lie  on  the  whole 
land,  till  justice  is  done  on  the  murderers."  Con- 
fiding Susquehannocks!  They  were  unsuspicious 
up  to  the  last,  and  when  old  Shehaes  was  told  that 
some  English  might  come  from  the  frontier  to  mur- 
der him  and  his  family,  he  replied:  "It  is  impos- 
sible; there  are  Indians,  indeed,  in  the  woods  who 
would  kill  me  and  mine,  if  they  could  get  at  us,  for 
my  friendship  to  the  English ;  but  the  English  will 
wrap  me  in  their  match-coat,  and  secure  me  from  all 
dangers." 

Perhaps  in  the  whole  range  of  the  philosopher's 
writings  there  is  no  finer  example  than  in  the  before- 
mentioned  Narrative  of  his  power  to  speak,  when 
he  so  desired,  with  emphasis  and  picturesqueness  of 
feeling.     His  style  was  not,   as  a  rule,   oratorical, 


150  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

but  in  this  instance  indignation  carried  him  far  be- 
yond his  customary  command  of  the  suavitcr  in 
modo.  Referring  to  the  Christian  Indians  of  Bethle- 
hem and  Nazareth  who  had  already  sought  refuge  in 
Philadelphia,  only  to  be  sent  away  from  there  to 
New  York,  and  then  returned,  Franklin  exclaimed : 

"  They  have  been  hurried  from  place  to  place  for  safety,  now 
concealed  in  corners,  then  sent  out  of  the  province,  refused  a  passage 
through  a  neighbouring  colony,  and  returned,  not  unkindly,  perhaps, 
but  disgracefully,  on  our  hands.  O  Pennsylvania !  Once  renowned 
for  kindness  to  strangers,  shall  the  clamours  of  a  few  mean  niggards 
about  the  expense  of  this  public  hospitality,  an  expense  that  will  not 
cost  the  noisy  wretches  sixpence  a  piece  (and  what  is  the  expense  of 
the  poor  maintenance  we  afford  them,  compared  to  the  expense  they 
might  occasion  if  in  arms  against  us), — shall  so  senseless  a  clamour,  I 
say,  force  you  to  turn  out  of  your  own  doors  these  unhappy  guests, 
who  have  offended  their  own  country-folks  by  their  affection  for  you, 
who,  confiding  in  your  goodness,  have  put  themselves  under  your 
protection.  Those  whom  you  have  disarmed  to  satisfy  groundless 
suspicions,  will  you  leave  them  exposed  to  the  armed  madmen  of 
their  country  ?  Unmanly  men  !  who  are  not  ashamed  to  come  with 
weapons  against  the  unarmed,  to  use  the  sword  against  women,  and 
the  bayonet  against  young  children  ;  and  who  have  already  given 
such  bloody  proofs  of  their  inhumanity  and  cruelty." 

He  ends  by  saying  that  "  cowards  can  handle  arms, 
can  strike  where  they  are  sure  to  meet  with  no  re- 
turn, can  wound,  mangle,  and  murder,"  but  that  it 
"  belongs  to  brave  men  to  spare  and  to  protect," 
for,  as  he  quotes  the  poet, 

"  Mercy  still  sways  the  brave. 

The  peaceful  Indian  visitors,  in  whose  behalf 
Franklin  so  warmly  took  up  the  cudgels,  were 
having  a  hard  time  of  it  in  recompense  for  their 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  151 

loyalty  to  the  province.  They  had  reached  Phila- 
delphia, a  frightened  band  of  one  hundred  and  forty, 
with  the  greatest  difficulty,  for  the  people  along 
their  route  from  the  Lehigh  were  intensely  hostile 
to  them,  and  mob  violence  was  feared.  A  mob, 
indeed,  is  nearly  always  brutal  and  unreasoning, 
and  to  the  hot-heads  there  was  no  difference  be- 
tween the  Indians  of  peaceful  ways  and  the  Indians 
of  the  scalping-knife.  The  wanderers  from  the 
Lehigh  were  immediately  escorted  by  their  mis- 
sionaries to  the  royal  barracks  in  the  Northern 
Liberties,  but  not  for  long  could  they  tarry  there. 

"A  crowd  soon  gathered:  presently  it  was  a  mob.  Joseph  Fox, 
the  Commissary  of  the  Barracks,  hastened  to  consult  the  governor, 
and  late  in  the  afternoon  returned  with  orders  to  take  the  Indians  to 
the  buildings  on  Province  Island — the  refuge  first  of  the  Palatines, 
then  of  the  Acadians,  now  of  the  Christian  Indians.  Surrounded  by 
a  menacing  crowd,  the  party  drove  down  Second  Street,  the  mission- 
aries still  guarding  their  flock  '  as  if  from  wolves,'  and  at  length 
reached  boats  on  the  river  which  took  them  to  the  Island."  * 

This  was  in  November.  Then  came  the  massacre 
of  the  Susquehan nocks  in  December,  and  next  a 
sensational  report  that  the  "  Paxton  boys  "  pro- 
jected a  pleasant  little  jaunt  to  the  Quaker  City,  in 
order  to  murder  the  new  inhabitants  of  Province 
Island.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  Should  the  refugees 
be  sent  to  Nantucket,  or  even  to  England  ?  Finally 
it  was  determined  to  transport  them  to  New  York 
— a  cowardly  expedient.  Early  one  morning,  before 
the  breaking  of  the  dawn,  they  were  smuggled  over 

*  Memorial  I/istojy  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia.  See  also  Scharf 
and  Westcott's  History. 


152  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

to  Philadelphia,  and  hurried  away  to  the  Bristol 
pike,  under  the  protection  of  their  missionaries  and 
a  detachment  of  Royal  Highlanders.  Soon,  how- 
ever, they  were  back  again,  having  been  denied 
admittance  to  the  province  of  New  York;  "  other 
troops,  a  hundred  of  the  Royal  Americans,  guarded 
them  back,  and  the  simple  piety  and  serene  faith  of 
the  poor  creatures  had  so  reached  the  soldiers  that 
now,  as  their  waggons  came  down  the  street,  in  the 
midst  of  a  heavy  snowstorm,  they  were  admitted  to 
the  Barracks  without  a  word." 

Now  came  a  rumour  that  fifteen  hundred  men 
from  Lancaster  were  marching  to  Philadelphia  for 
the  destruction  of  the  Indians.  Thereupon  the 
alarmed  citizens  (or  such  of  them  as  had  no  sympa- 
thies for  "  Paxton  "  principles),  and  the  no  less 
alarmed  Governor  Penn,  looked  to  Franklin  for 
assistance.  The  latter  had  done  so  much  for  the 
city  of  his  adoption  that  there  was  a  very  natural 
impulse,  even  among  his  enemies,  to  regard  him  as 
a  tower  of  strength  in  time  of  emergency.  A  mass- 
meeting  was  held  at  the  State  House,  when  the  riot 
act  of  George  I.  was  read  by  authority  of  the  As- 
sembly, a  new  militia  association  was  formed  under 
the  auspices  of  Franklin,  and  for  a  time  all  was 
frightened  bustle  and  trepidation.  The  barracks, 
where  the  Indians  now  trembled  for  their  lives,  were 
defended  with  cannon,  a  stockade  was  thrown  up, 
and  various  other  warlike  preparations  were  made. 
It  was  ordered  that  if  the  alarm  bells  should  sound 
a  warning  of  the  mob's  approach  all  the  citizens 
should  rush  either  to  the  barracks  or  to  the  court- 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  153 

house.  "  Business  was  suspended,  shops  did  not 
open,  the  ferries  were  dismantled,  and  couriers 
char<^ing  back  and  forth  along  the  streets  kept  up 
the  excitement.  Even  the  Quakers  forgot  their 
principles."  *  Indeed,  many  of  the  Friends,  young 
and  old,  were  so  infected  with  the  spirit  of  the  mo- 
ment that  they  took  up  arms.  This  radical  depart- 
ure from  the  non-resistance  policy  made  such  an 
impression  that  on  one  occasion,  when  a  well-known 
Quaker  was  seen  shouldering  a  musket,  a  crowd  of 
boys  followed  him  along  the  street  with  astonished 
cries  of  "  Look  here!  A  Quaker  with  a  musket  on 
his  shoulder!  " 

The  excitement  and  the  calling  to  arms  had  begun 
on  a  Saturday  (February  4,  1764),  and  by  the  follow- 
ing Monday  the  much-feared  enemy  from  the 
country  of  the  Paxtons  had  reached  Germantown — 
not  fifteen  hundred  strong,  as  at  first  reported,  but 
a  hardy  party  of  two  hundred  frontiersmen,  who  as- 
serted that  they  were  only  the  advance-guard  of  a 
formidable  gathering.  Having  gotten  thus  far  on 
their  march,  the  would-be  avengers  heard  of  the 
preparations  which  had  been  made  to  oppose  them, 
and  prudently  halted,  perhaps  to  deliberate  as  to 
their  future  plan  of  operation.  How  were  they  to 
be  dealt  with  ?  That  became  the  instant  topic  of 
conversation  in  Philadelphia,  and  there  were  some 
bellicose  citizens  who  thought  that  the  militia  should 
promptly  attack  the  invaders.  But  Governor  Penn, 
who  was  leaning  more  and  more  on  the  strong  arm 
of  Franklin,  was  for  treating  with  them.     Accord- 

*  Scharf  and  Westcott. 


154  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

ingly,  when  Tuesday  came,  the  Postmaster-General 
and  some  other  citizens  repaired  to  Germantown, 
met  the  backwoodsmen,  and  after  Hstening  to  their 
grievance  and  receiving  a  "  manifesto  "  setting  forth 
the  latter,  persuaded  them  to  disband.  The  next 
morning  a  few  of  the  rioters  rode  into  town,  failed 
to  identify  any  of  the  refugees  as  murderers,  saving 
an  old  squaw,  and  rode  away  again  peacefully.  So 
ended  the  episode.  Throughout  it  all  we  see  the 
guiding  hand  of  Franklin,  first  in  putting  the  city  in 
a  condition  of  defence,  and  then  in  throwing  aside 
the  mantle  of  the  soldier  for  that  of  the  diplomatist, 
by  securing  a  bloodless  victory. 

"  Governor  Penn,"  he  relates,  anent  this  excitement,  in  a  letter  to 
Lord  Karnes,  "  made  my  house  for  some  time  his  headquarters,  and 
did  everything  by  my  advice  ;  so  that  for  about  forty-eight  hours,  I 
was  a  very  great  man  ;  as  I  had  been  once  some  years  before,  in  a 
time  of  public  danger.  But  the  fighting  face  we  put  on,  and  the 
reasonings  we  used  with  the  insurgents,  .  .  .  having  turned 
them  back  and  restored  quiet  to  the  city,  I  became  a  less  man  than 
ever ;  for  I  had,  by  this  transaction,  made  myself  many  enemies 
among  the  populace  ;  and  the  Governor  (with  whose  family  our  pub- 
lic disputes  had  long  placed  me  in  an  unfriendly  light,  and  the 
services  I  had  lately  rendered  him  not  being  of  the  kind  that  make  a 
man  acceptable)  thinking  it  a  favourable  opportunity,  joined  the 
whole  weight  of  the  proprietary  interest  to  get  me  out  of  the  Assem- 
bly." 

The  unfortunate  Indians,  or  such  of  them  as  did 
not  die  of  smallpox,  were  finally  sent  back  to  the 
Moravians  of  the  Lehigh,  but  it  would  be  many  a 
long  day  before  the  ill-feeling  stirred  up  by  the 
Paxton  controversy  should  die  out.  For  while  the 
Quakers  strenuously  supported  Franklin  in  his  de- 


1705]  In  Thorny  Paths  i55 

nunciation  of  the  murder  of  the  Susquehannocks,  a 
strong  party  had  arisen  to  defend  the  Paxtons — a 
party  which  soon  had  for  its  most  imposing  adherent 
John  Penn  himself.  The  Governor  had  forgotten 
his  righteous  indignation  ;  instead  of  trying  to  bring 
the  slayers  of  poor  Sheha^s  and  his  tribe  to  a  tardy 
justice,  he  went  so  far  in  the  other  direction  as  to 
issue  a  proclamation  offering  bounties  for  Indian 
scalps.  Writers  on  either  side  rushed  into  print  with 
"poems"  and  pamphlets,  Avhile  one  might  have 
supposed,  from  the  tenor  of  some  of  the  squibs,  that 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  the  most  hated  man  in  the 
province.  The  Quakers  who  had  so  valiantly  and 
inconsistently  risen  to  the  defence  of  the  city,  came 
in  for  their  share  of  lampooning,  and  one  squib  thus 
made  fun  of  their  readiness  to  use  a  meeting-house 
for  the  shelter  of  militia  during  the  short  time  that 
Philadelphia  was  under  arms : 

"  Cock  up  your  hats  ;  look  fierce  and  trim  ! 
Nor  wear  the  horizontal  brim  ; 
The  house  of  prayer  be  made  a  den 
Not  of  vile  thieves,  but  armed  men  ; 
Tho'  't  is  indeed  a  profanation 
Which  we  must  expiate  with  lustration  ; 
But  such  the  present  time  requires, 
And  such  are  all  the  Friends'  desires  ; 
Fill  bumpers,  then,  of  rum  or  arrack  ! 
We  '11  drink  success  to  the  new  barrack." 

But  from  the  Indians  the  controversy  soon  drifted 
into  a  discussion  of  proprietary  and  anti-proprietary 
rights,  with  Franklin  once  again  siding  with  the 
Quakers  (who  held  the  majority  in  the  Assembly), 


156  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

in  their  war  against  the  poHcy  of  the  Penns.  And 
now  the  fight  was  waxing  warm,,  for  the  Assembly 
had  been  goaded  so  far  as  to  contemplate  a  petition 
to  the  King,  praying  that  Pennsylvania  be  taken 
out  of  the  control  of  the  proprietaries,  and  that  it 
be  made  a  royal  province,  directly  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  crown.  It  was  a  bold  step  to  plan, 
but  one  which  the  conduct  of  John  Penn  seemed  to 
fully  justify.  The  Governor,  who  had,  upon  his 
arrival,  been  all  conciliation  and  politeness,  now 
showed  his  true  colours  by  vetoing  two  important 
bills.  One  was  a  militia  bill  (to  which  he  objected 
because  it  did  not  give  him  power  to  appoint  all  the 
officers  of  the  regiment) ;  the  other  appropriated 
money  for  a  campaign  against  the  hostile  Indians, 
taxing  all  estates  alike,  as  the  legislators  were 
authorised  in  doing  by  the  action  of  the  Privy 
Council.  These  vetoes  were  exasperating  ;  the 
many  grievances  against  the  proprietaries  were 
forthwith  vigorously  aired  in  the  Assembly,  with 
Franklin  always  in  the  van  of  the  malcontents. 
Finally,  the  members  resolved  to  adjourn  until  May 
(1764),  in  order  to  consult  their  constituents  on  the 
advisability  of  drawing  up  an  address  to  the  King, 
'*  praying  that  he  would  be  graciously  pleased  to 
take  the  people  of  this  province  under  his  immediate 
protection,  by  completing  the  agreement  heretofore 
made  with  the  first  proprietary  for  the  sale  of  the 
government  to  the  crown,  or  otherwise," 

No  sooner  did  the  Assembly  adjourn  than  a  wordy 
war  of  pamphleteering  ensued,  the  respective  causes 
of  the  proprietary  and  the  anti-proprietary  interests 


i7f^5]  In  Thorny  Paths  i57 

being  debated  with  warmth,  and  at  times  with 
acrimony.  Franklin,  ever  on  the  alert,  quickly  en- 
tered into  the  battle  by  writing  some  Cool  Thoughts 
on  the  Present  Situation  of  our  Public  Affairs.  This 
paper,  which  he  caused  to  be  freely  and  widely 
distributed  through  the  city,  showed,  in  a  clear, 
lucid  style,  the  inconveniences  of  a  government 
under  the  autocratic  yoke  of  the  Penns.  We  can 
understand  how  the  adherents  of  the  latter  must 
have  hated  our  "  little  postmaster  "  at  this  period, 
nor  would  it  be  surprising  if  the  "  persons  of  qual- 
ity "  among  them  indulged  in  contemptuous  flings 
at  his  humbleness  of  birth  and  his  early  soap-boiling 
surroundings.  Already  was  there  an  aristocratic 
spirit  abroad  in  Philadelphia,  notwithstanding  that 
the  city  had  been  settled  by  colonists  in  the  same 
class  of  life  as  was  Josiah  Franklin,  Indeed,  it  is 
by  no  means  improbable  that  to  these  members  of 
the  "  best  society,"  who  were  trying  hard  to  shake 
off  the  familiar  atmosphere  of  the  family  grocery  or 
of  the  w^orkshop,  the  first  of  all  their  citizens  was  a 
plebeian,  and,  no  doubt,  a  bit  of  a  demagogue  into 
the  bargain. 

But  what  cared  Franklin  for  that  ?  He  was  thor- 
oughly independent,  financially,  socially,  and  politi- 
cally, of  the  Governor's  parasites,  and  was  under  no 
necessity  to  regulate  his  conduct  to  suit  the  timorous 
people  who  basked  in  the  sun  of  official  favour.  No ; 
he  spoke  out  in  ringing  tones;  nothing  could  have 
been  more  apropos  than  those  Cool  but  emphatic 
Thoughts.  Mr.  John  Penn  must  have  read  the 
pamphlet  with  feelings  of  unadulterated  anger,  and 


158  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

it  is  probable  that  he  wished  his  one-time  ally  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Delaware,  when  he  came  to  a  passage 
like  this : 

"  The  government,  that  ought  to  keep  all  in  order,  is  itself  weak, 
and  has  scarce  authority  enough  to  keep  the  common  peace.  Mobs 
assemble  and  kill  (we  scarce  dare  say  murder)  numbers  of  innocent 
people  in  cold  blood,  who  were  under  the  protection  of  the  govern- 
ment. Proclamations  are  issued  to  bring  the  rioters  to  justice. 
Those  proclamations  are  treated  with  the  utmost  indignity  and  con- 
tempt. Not  a  magistrate  dares  wag  a  finger  towards  discovering  or 
apprehending  the  delinquents  (we  must  not  call  them  murdcj-crs)." 

And  in  perusing  the  conclusion  of  Cool  Thoughts 
mayhap  the  Governor  was  filled  with  the  same  un- 
christian sentiment : 

"  We  are  chiefly  people  of  three  countries.  British  spirits  can  no 
longer  bear  the  treatment  they  have  received,  nor  will  they  put  on  the 
chains  prepared  for  them  by  a  fellow-subject.  And  the  Irish  and 
Germans  have  felt  too  severely  the  oppressions  of  hard-hearted  land- 
lords and  arbitrary  princes,  to  wish  to  see,  in  the  proprietaries  of 
Pennsylvania,  both  the  one  and  the  other  united."  * 

The  controversy  was  not  confined,  by  any  means, 
to  the  writing  of  pamphlets.  Public  meetings  were 
held  throughout  the  province,  and  it  may  be  in- 
ferred that  the  colonists,  as  a  whole,  were  over- 
whelmingly in  favour  of  the  address  to  the  King. 
When  the  Assembly  re-convened,  about  the  middle 
of  May,  there  were  found  to  be  over  three  thousand 
signatures  to  the  petition  recommending  the  appeal, 
as  against  less  than   three  hundred   signatures   up- 

*  Cool  Thoui:;hts  bore  on  its  face  the  stamp  of  Franklin,  in  thought 
and  mode  of  expression,  although  the  paper  was  ostensibly  addressed 
to  "  A  Friend  in  the  Country,"  and  signed  "  A.  B." 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  159 

holding  the  proprietaries.  The  momentous  subject 
was  discussed  at  length  by  the  legislature,  John 
Dickinson  being  the  chief  speaker  in  behalf  of  the 
present  government,  and  Joseph  Galloway,  the  gov- 
ernment's most  eloquent  opponent.  Then  the 
address  was  put  to  vote,  and  adopted  by  a  large 
majority.  Suddenly  there  came  a  halt  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. Isaac  Norris,  the  venerable  Speaker  of 
the  Assembly,  announced  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
sign  an  address  with  which  he  was  out  of  harmony. 
He  asked  for  delay,  and  pleaded  illness  as  a  reason 
for  resigning.  The  upshot  of  the  affair  was  that 
Franklin  was  elected  to  the  speakership,  and  gladly 
afifixed  his  name  to  the  document.  For  the 
moment  the  anti-proprietary  party  was  in  the  ascen- 
dent. 

Yet  there  was  more  work  to  be  done.  The  elec- 
tion for  members  of  the  Assembly  would  take  place 
in  October,  and  the  result  of  the  polling,  particu- 
larly as  it  concerned  the  returns  from  Philadelphia, 
might  have  a  very  important  bearing  on  the  future 
government  of  the  colony.  To  defeat  Franklin  and 
Galloway  now  became  the  aim  of  the  Penn  party. 
Philadelphians  girded  their  loins  for  the  struggle. 
Once  more  the  contestants  hastened  into  print,  and 
once  more  the  head  of  the  constitutional  rebels  came 
in  for  many  a  hard  dig.  Chief-Justice  Allen,  who 
now  hated  the  latter  more  than  ever,  wrote  over  to 
London  setting  forth  that  the  clamours  against  the 
proprietors  were  "  owing  to  the  malice  of  Franklin 
and  Galloway,"  adding:  "  I  hope  and  believe  their 
reign  is  short,  and  am  persuaded  all  their  efforts  for 


i6o  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

further  mischief  will  be,  in  a  great  measure,  prevented 
in  time  to  come,  whatever  way  the  next  elections 
are  determined,  for  the  people  begin  to  open  their 
eyes  daily,  and  they  would  scarce  be  so  hardy  as  to 
attempt  the  same  measures  again." 

The  pamphlets  grew  more  and  more  scurrilous, 
and  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  warped  Chief  Justice 
read  with  pleasure  one  of  them  wherein  Franklin 
was  held  up  to  scorn  as  an  immoral  and  dangerous 
politician,  and  apostrophised  in  the  following  polite 
terms : 

"  Reader,  behold  this  striking  Instance  of 
Human  Depravity  and  Ingratitude  ; 
An  irrefragable  Proof 

That  neither  the  Capital  Services  of  Friends, 
Nor  the  attracting  Favours  of  the  Fair, 
Can  fix  the  Sincerity  of  a  Man, 
Devoid  of  Principles  and 
Ineffably  vieaii  j 
Whose  Ambition  is 

Power, 
And  whose  intention  is 

Tyranny." 

This  delicate  criticism  had  been  provoked  by  the 
preface  which  the  doctor  had  written  to  a  speech 
against  the  proprietary  government,  delivered  in  the 
Assembly  by  Joseph  Galloway,  and  subsequently 
printed  for  general  circulation.  This  preface  is  a 
lengthy  speech  in  itself,  but  it  reads  incisively  even 
yet,  particularly  that  remarkable  memorial,  "  in  the 
lapidary  style,"  which  the  writer  suggested  as  the 
proper  epitaph  for  the  Messrs.  Thomas  and  Richard 
Penn,  the  non-illustrious  sons  of  the  great  William : 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  161 

"  Be  this  a  Memorial 

Of  T- —  and  R P , 

r of  F , 

Who,  with  estates  immense, 

Almost  beyond  computation. 

When  their  own  province. 

And  the  whole  British  empire. 

Were  engaged  in  a  bloody  and  most  expensive  war, 

Begun  for  the  defence  of  those  estates, 

Could  yet  meanly  desire 

To  have  those  very  estates 

Totally  or  partially 

Exempted  from  taxation, 

While  their  fellow-subjects  all  around  them, 

Groaned 

Under  the  universal  burden. 

A  striking  instance 

Of  human  depravity  and  ingratitude  ; 

And  an  irrefragable  proof. 

That  wisdom  and  goodness 

Do  not  descend  with  an  inheritance  ; 

But  that  ineffable  meanness 

May  be  connected  with  unbounded  fortune." 

Now  came  the  Assembly  election  with  an  "  old 
ticket,"  headed  by  Franklin  and  Galloway,  and  a 
"  new  ticket,"  representing  the  proprietary  interests, 
in  the  exciting  field.  The  Moravians  and  nearly  all 
the  Quakers  supported  the  "  old  "  ticket  ;  the 
Church  of  England  men  and  the  Dutch  Lutherans 
were  divided  in  their  opinions,  and  the  Dutch  Cal- 
vinists  and  the  Presbyterians  were  strongly  in  favour 
of  the  "  new  "  ticket.  On  the  first  day  of  October, 
at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  poll  was  opened, 
and  from  then  until  nearly  midnight  there  was  a 
lengthy  line  of  voters,  so  that  at  no  time  could  a 


1 62  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

citizen  get  from  the  end  of  the  Hne  to  the  booth  in 

less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

"About  three  in  the  morning,  the  advocates  for  the  new  ticket  moved 
for  a  close,  but  (Oh  !  the  fatal  mistake  ! )  the  old  hands  kept  it  open, 
as  they  had  a  reserve  for  the  aged  and  lame,  which  could  not  come 
in  the  crowd,  and  were  called  up  and  brought  out  in  chairs  and  lit- 
ters, and  some  who  needed  no  help,  between  three  and  six  o'clock, 
about  200  voters.  As  both  sides  took  care  to  have  spies  all  night, 
the  alarm  was  given  to  the  new  ticket  men  ;  horsemen  and  footmen 
were  immediately  dispatched  to  Germantown  and  elsewhere,  and  by 
nine  or  ten  o'clock  they  began  to  pour  in,  so  that  after  the  move  for 
a  close,  700  or  800  votes  were  procured."  * 

It  was  three  o'clock  that  afternoon  before  the  polls 
closed,  and  it  was  not  until  the  next  day  that  the 
votes  were  counted,  and  it  was  found  that  Galloway 
and  Franklin  had  been  defeated  by  a  very  small 
majority.  Yet  it  is  safe  to  claim  that  no  one  heard 
the  result  of  the  election  with  greater  serenity  than 
the  Postmaster-General.  "  Mr.  Franklin,"  we  are 
told,  "  died  like  a  philosopher,"  but   Mr.  Galloway 

agonised  in  death,  like  a  Mortal  Deist,  who  has 
no  Hopes  of  a  Future  Existence." 

Although  Franklin  had  been  ousted,  and  the  anti- 
proprietary  party  had  been  considerably  reduced  in 
numbers,  that  party  still  maintained  a  majority  in 
the  Assembly,  and  straightway  proceeded  to  em- 
power their  leader  to  proceed  to  London,  there  to 
put  before  the  King  in  Council  the  petition  for  the 
change  of  government.  At  once  there  arose  a  storm 
of  objection  from  the  Penn  adherents;  a  counter- 
petition  was  brought  into  the  Assembly,  and  Mr. 
Dickinson  burst  forth  before  that  body  in  a  speech 

*  Pettit's  letter  to  Joseph  Reed. 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  163 

wherein  he  asserted  that  no  man  in  the  province  was 
so  much  the  object  of  pubHc  disHke  as  Frankhn. 
After  coolly  suggesting  that  Franklin  should  resign 
the  proposed  special  agency,  his  enemy  went  on  to 
say : 

"  The  gentleman  proposed  has  been  called  here  to-day  '  a  great  lu- 
minary of  the  learned  world.'  I  acknowledge  his  abilities.  Far  be 
it  from  me  to  detract  from  the  merit  I  admire.  Let  him  still  shine, 
but  without  wrapping  his  country  in  flames.  Let  him,  from  a  pri- 
vate station,  a  small  sphere,  diffuse,  as  I  think  he  may,  a  beneficial 
light  ;  but  let  him  not  be  made  to  move  and  blaze  like  a  comet,  to 
terrify  and  distress." 

When  the  proprietary's  henchmen  found  that  they 
could  not  prevent  the  triumphant  election  as  agent 
of  their  arch-opposer,  they  drew  up  a  protest,  which 
(the  Assembly  refusing  to  place  it  on  the  minutes) 
they  proceeded  to  have  printed.  This  curious  paper, 
which  was  signed  by  ten  citizens,  among  them  John 
Dickinson,  Chief-Justice  Allen,  and  Thomas  Willing, 
attacked  their  great  adversary  in  terms  more  em- 
phatic than  truthful  or  courteous.  It  w^as  contended : 
(i)  that  Franklin  was  "  the  chief  author  of  the  meas- 
ures pursued  by  the  late  Assembly,  which  have 
occasioned  such  uneasiness  and  dcstraction  among 
the   good   people   of  this  province";    (2)   that   his 

fixed  enmity  "  to  the  proprietors  would  preclude 
all  accommodation  of  the  disputes  with  them,  "  even 
on  just    and    reasonable    terms";  (3)   that   he   was 

very  unfavourably  thought  of  by  several  of  His 
Majesty's  ministers  "  ;  (4)  that  his  appointment  was 

extremely  disagreeable  to  a  very  great  number  of 
the  most  serious  and  reputable  inhabitants  of  this 


164  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

province  "  ;  (5)  that  the  "  unnecessary  haste"  in 
making  the  appointment  might  subject  the  iVssem- 
bly  "  to  the  censures  and  very  heavy  displeasure  of 
our  most  gracious  Sovereign  and  his  Ministers"; 
and  (6)  that  "  the  gentleman  proposed  has  heretofore 
ventured,  contrary  to  an  act  of  Assembly,  to  place 
the  public  money  in  the  stocks,  whereby  this  pro- 
vince suffered  a  loss  of  ^6000." 

When  this  protest  appeared  Franklin  was  about  to 
sail  for  England,  but  in  the  midst  of  all  his  prepara- 
tions he  promptly  wrote  a  reply  to  the  ill-natured 
charges  of  Messrs.  Dickinson  and  Company.*  No 
answer  could  have  vindicated  more  completely  the 
complacent  victim  of  the  mud-throwing  policy  of 
the  proprietary  party  ;  nothing  could  have  been 
more  convincing,  manly  in  tone,  and  forcible. 

"  And  do  those  of  you,  Gentlemen,"  cried  out  the  slandered  agent, 
in  responding  to  the  taunt  as  to  his  defeat  at  the  polls,  "  reproach  me 
with  this,  who,  among  near  four  thousand  voters,  had  scarcely  a 
score  more  than  I  had  ?  It  seems,  then,  that  your  elections  were 
very  near  being  rejections,  and  thereby  furnishing  the  same  proof  in 
your  case  that  you  produce  in  mine,  of  your  being  likewise  extremely 
disagreeable  to  a  very  great  number  of  people." 

And  thus  he  continues  in  a  vein,  sometimes  of  sar- 
casm and  sometimes  of  vigorous  denial,  that  must 
have  done  more  for  his  cause  than  could  a  hundred 
pamphlets  of  coarse  vituperation. 

"  Notonly  my  duty  to  the  crown,  in  carrying  the  post-office  act  more 
duly  into  execution,  was  made  use  of  to  exasperate  the  ignorant,  as 

*  Remarks  on  a  Late  Protest  against  the  Appointment  of  Mr. 
Franklin  as  Agent  for  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  dated  Novem- 
ber 5,  1764, 


nos]  In  Thorny  Paths  165 

if  I  was  increasing  my  own  profits  by  picking  their  pockets  ;  but  my 
very  zeal  in  opposing  the  murderers,  and  supporting  the  authority 
of  government,  and  even  my  humanity  with  regard  to  the  innocent 
Indians  under  our  protection,  were  mustered  among  my  ofifences,  to 
stir  up  against  me  those  religious  bigots,  who  are  of  all  savages  the 
most  brutish.  Add  to  this  the  numberless  falsehoods  propagated  as 
truths ;  and  the  many  perjuries  procured  among  the  wretched  rabble 
brought  to  swear  themselves  entitled  to  a  vote;  and  yet  so  poor  a 
superiority  obtained  at  all  this  expense  of  honor  and  conscience  ! 
Can  this,  Gentlemen,  be  matter  of  triumph  ?  Enjoy  it,  then.  Your 
exultation,  however,  was  short.  Your  artifices  did  not  prevail  every- 
where ;  nor  your  double  tickets  and  whole  boxes  of  forged  votes.  A 
great  majority  of  the  new-chosen  assembly  were  of  the  old  members, 
and  remained  uncorrupted.  They  still  stood  firm  for  the  people,  and 
will  obtain  justice  from  the  proprietaries.  But  what  does  that  avail 
to  you,  who  are  in  the  proprietary  interests  ?  " 

The  after-election  cry  of  "  Fraud  "  is  not  of  modern 
origin. 

But  the  most  serious  of  all  the  charges  in  the  pro- 
test was  that  which  accused  Franklin  of  investing 
illegally  certain  public  monies  entrusted  to  his  care.* 

"  You  might  have  mentioned,"  he  says  in  rebuttal,  "  that  the  direc- 
tion of  the  act  to  lodge  the  money  in  the  bank,  subject  to  the  drafts 
of  the  trustees  of  the  loan  office  here,  was  impracticable  ;  that  the 
bank  refused  to  receive  it  on  those  terms,  it  being  contrary  to  their 
settled  rules  to  take  charge  of  money  subject  to  the  orders  of  un- 
known people  living  in  distant  countries.  You  might  have  mentioned 
that  the  House  being  informed  of  this,  and  having  no  immediate  call 
for  the  money,  did  themselves  adopt  the  measure  of  placing  it  in  the 
stocks,  when  they  were  low  ;  where  it  might  on  a  peace  produce  a 
considerable  profit  and  in  the  meantime  accumulate  an  interest. 
.  .  .  and  that  the  loss  arose,  not  from  placing  the  money  in 
the  stocks,  but  from  the  imprudent  and  unnecessary  drawing  it  out 
at  the  very  time  when   they  were  lowest,  on  some  slight  uncertain 

*  "  The  money  here  meant  was  a  sum  granted  by  Parliament  as 
an  indemnification  for  part  of  our  expenses  in  the  late  war." 


1 66  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

rumours  of  a  peace  concluded  ;  that  if  the  Assembly  had  let  it  remain 
another  year,  instead  of  losing,  they  would  have  gained  six  thousand 
pounds. 

"  I  am  now  to  take  leave  (perhaps  a  last  leave)  of  the  country  I 
love,  and  in  which  I  have  spent  the  greatest  part  of  my  life,"  con- 
cluded Franklin.  "  Esto perpetuo.  I  wish  every  kind  of  prosperity 
to  my  friends  ;  and  I  forgive  my  enemies." 

Five  days  later  the  special  agent  for  Pennsylvania 
was  on  his  way  to  Chester,  there  to  take  ship  for 
England,  and  with  him  to  that  town  went  three 
hundred  of  his  fellow-citizens,  an  admiring  cavalcade 
bearing  eloquent  testimony  to  the  popularity  of  this 
great  constitutional  fighter  among  the  liberty-loving 
element  of  Philadelphia.  Another  evidence  of  es- 
teem had  been  shown  in  the  quickness  with  which 
prominent  merchants  had  subscribed  i^iioo  toward 
his  expenses  abroad — a  sum  of  money  to  be  repaid 
by  the  Assembly,  and  of  which  the  honoured  recip- 
ient would  only  accept  a  portion.  Yet  it  could  not 
have  been  altogether  a  joyful  departure.  Wife  and 
daughter  and  all  the  domestic  ties  held  most  dear 
were,  perforce,  left  at  home,  and  so,  too,  were 
enemies  who  would  have  only  the  freer  field  now 
that  their  mighty  opponent  was  gone.  The  future 
was  one  of  vast  uncertainty.  What  was  to  be  the 
outcome  ? 

"You  know  I  have  many  enemies,"  wrote  the  fond  father  to  the 
cherished  Sarah,  as  his  vessel  sailed  down  the  river,  "all  indeed  on 
the  public  account,  (for  I  cannot  recollect  that  I  have  in  a  private 
capacity  given  just  cause  of  offence  to  any  one  whatever),  yet  they 
are  enemies,  and  very  bitter  ones  ;  and  you  must  expect  their  enmity 
will  extend  in  some  degree  to  you,  so  that  your  slightest  indiscretions 
will  be  magnified  into  crimes,  in  order  the  more  sensibly  to  wound 
and  afflict  me." 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  167 

And  very  soon  would  a  blunder,  the  only  great 
blunder  of  the  statesman's  political  career,  put  a 
weapon  into  the  hands  of  those  enemies. 

Strange  to  say,  when  Dr.  Franklin  got  to  London 
(December,  1764),  the  petition  to  the  King  was  for- 
gotten in  the  interest  attending  a  much  more  serious 
matter.  The  troubles  of  the  province,  great  as  they 
undoubtedly  were,  gave  way  to  an  issue  of  national 
importance.  In  short,  the  English  ministry  had 
determined  to  practically  destroy  the  independence 
of  the  colonial  assemblies,  and  to  ignore  the  theory 
of  "  no  taxation  without  representation,"  by  impos- 
ing a  direct  stamp-tax  upon  America.  Hitherto  the 
provinces  had  appropriated  money  for  the  King's 
service,  when  so  desired,  by  vote  of  their  several 
legislatures,  and  had  thus  been  free  agents.  Now, 
however,  all  this  was  to  be  changed.  The  colonies, 
without  representation  in  Parliament,  were,  never- 
theless, to  be  forced  by  Parliament  to  submit  to  an 
arbitary  internal  tax,  so  that  the  aid  to  the  crown 
would  become  compulsory  in  the  very  worst  sense 
of  the  word.*     The  project  involved  not  merely  the 

*"It  is  commonly  believed,"  says  Professor  McMaster,  "that 
this  famous  tax  was  the  first  of  its  kind  known  in  America.  But  this 
is  a  mistake,  for  twice  had  stamp  taxes  been  willingly  laid  and  will- 
ingly borne,  and,  when  they  expired,  as  willingly  renewed.  The 
first  was  imposed  for  one  year  by  Massachusetts  in  1755,  and  re- 
enacted  in  1756.  The  other  was  passed  by  New  York  in  December, 
1756.  It  ran  for  one  year,  was  renewed  in  1757  for  another  year, 
and  created  neitlier  discontent  nor  opposition.  Against  stamp  duties, 
New  York  and  Massachusetts  could  thei'cfore  make  no  complaint. 
It  was  against  stamp  duties  laid  without  consent  of  the  colonies  that 
the  four  London  agents  protested  vigorously  on  the  2nd  of  Febru- 
ary, 1765." — See  BcvjciDiin  Franklin  as  a  Man  of  Letters, 


1 68  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

using  of  stamps  upon  legal  documents,  newspapers, 
commercial  paper,  etc.,  galling  and  onerous  as  that 
would  be  in  itself;  a  vital  principle  was  at  stake, 
and  Americans  saw  themselves  about  to  be  treated 
not  as  free-and-equal  citizens,  or  subjects,  of  a  great 
empire,  but  rather  as  semi-serfs  who  must  do  the 
bidding  of  the  Lords  and  Commons  of  Westminster, 
in  whose  proceedings  they  had  no  voice.  For  once 
admit  the  correctness  of  the  theory  on  which  this 
stamp  act  was  based,  and  who  was  to  foretell  to 
what  lengths  an  arrogant  Parliament  might  carry  its 
power  ?  Furthermore,  an  elaborate  scheme  had 
been  suggested  by  which  the  colonies  were  to  be 
brought  under  more  direct  and  submissive  control 
of  the  mother  country;  territorial  boundaries  would 
be  altered,  provincial  constitutions  remodelled,  and 
popular  power  abridged.  It  was  no  wonder,  then, 
that  the  intentions  of  the  government  as  to  taxa- 
tion, which  had  been  broached  in  the  colonies  some 
time  before  the  departure  of  Franklin,  should  arouse 
the  most  sincere  alarm,  the  gravest  misgivings. 
Nor  was  it  anything  but  natural  that  when  the 
matter  had  been  discussed  by  the  Assembly  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  the  preceding  summer  the  members 
heartily  condemned  the  proposed  tax,  while  at  the 
same  time  ofificially  recording  their  purpose  "  to 
grant  aid  to  the  crown,  according  to  their  abilities, 
whenever  required  of  them,  in  the  usual  constitu- 
tional manner." 

No  sooner  was  he  in  London  than  the  energetic 
doctor  hastened  to  the  aid  not  only  of  Pennsylvania, 
but  of  the  colonies  in  general,  by  trying  to  stem  the 


17651  In  Thorny  Paths  169 

dangerous  current  which  bid  fair  to  overwhchn  the 
liberties  of  his  country.  In  company  with  the  other 
provincial  agents  he  waited  upon  George  Grenville, 
the  Prime  Minister,  but  his  arguments,  forcible, 
logical,  and  temperately  expressed  as  they  were, 
might  have  been  addressed  to  deaf  ears,  for  any 
good  that  they  effected.  "  I  have  pledged  my  word 
for  offering  the  Stamp  Bill  to  the  House,"  said 
Grenville,  "  and  I  cannot  forego  it;  they  will  hear 
all  objections,  and  do  as  they  please  "  ;  and  he  re- 
marked politely,  but  with  the  spirit  of  the  political 
tyrant,  "  you  cannot  hope  to  get  any  good  by  a 
controversy  with  the  mother  country."  In  March, 
therefore,  the  obnoxious  bill  was  passed  as  a  matter 
of  course;  "  within  doors  [Parliament],  less  resist- 
ance was  made  to  the  act  than  to  a  common  turn- 
pike bill," 

It  was  supposed  in  London  that  the  act,  when 
once  made  law,  would  meet  with  little  or  no  resist- 
ance; even  Franklin,  who  usually  observed  so 
astutely,  and  knew  so  well  how  to  feel  the  public 
pulse,  fell  into  this  error  of  judgment.  He  failed 
for  once  to  gauge  the  sentiments  of  his  countrymen. 
Hard  as  he  had  worked  against  the  measure,  he  de- 
luded himself  with  the  idea  that  the  opposition  to  it 
would  evaporate,  and  he  seemed  disposed  to  yield  to 
the  inevitable.  Puzzling  inconsistency  in  one  \\ho 
realised  so  thoroughly  the  danger  of  taxation  with- 
out representation.  Perhaps  he  was  deceived  by 
the  optimistic  opinions  of  his  English  friends. 

"  The  act  seemed  sure  to  enforce  itself.  Unless  stamps  were  used, 
marriages  would  be  null,  notes  of  hand  valueless,  ships  at  sea  prizes 


lyo  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

to  the  first  captors,  suits  at  law  impossible,  transfers  of  real  estate 
invalid,  inheritances  irreclaimable,  newspapers  suppressed.  Of  all 
who  acted  with  Grenville  in  the  government,  he  never  heard  one 
prophecy  that  the  measure  would  be  resisted.  '  He  did  not  force  the 
opposition  to  it,  and  would  have  staked  his  life  for  obedience.' " 

So  says  Bancroft,  who  adds,  significantly: 

"  It  was  held  that  the  power  of  Parliament,  according  to  the  purest 
Whig  principles,  was  established  over  the  colonies,  but,  in  truth,  the 
Stamp  Act  was  the  harbinger  of  American  independence,  and  the 
knell  of  the  unreformed  House  of  Commons." 

Franklin  wrote  home  to  Charles  Thomson,  in  vin- 
dication of  himself,  that  he  had  taken  every  step  in 
his  power  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  bill : 

"  But  the  tide  was  too  strong  for  us.  The  nation  was  provoked  by 
American  claims  of  independence,  and  all  parties  joined  in  resolving 
by  this  act  to  settle  the  point.  We  might  as  well  have  hindered  the 
sun's  setting.  That  we  could  not  do.  But  since  't  is  down,  my 
friend,  and  it  may  be  long  before  it  rises  again,  let  us  make  as  good 
a  night  of  it  as  we  can.  We  may  still  light  candles.  Frugality  and 
Industry  will  go  a  great  way  towards  indemnifying  us.  Idleness  and 
Pride  tax  with  a  heavier  hand  than  kings  and  parliaments.  If  we 
can  get  rid  of  the  former  we  may  easily  bear  the  latter." 

And  now  Franklin  made  his  great  mistake — some- 
thing which  he  surely  would  have  set  down  as  an 
erratum  had  he  ever  brought  the  record  of  the  Aiito- 
biograpliy  up  to  this  period.  For  when  Mr.  Grenville 
graciously,  if  shrewdly,  invited  the  colonial  agents 
to  nominate  the  persons  who  were  to  act  as  stamp 
ofificers  for  America,  the  agent  from  Pennsylvania 
was  foolish  enough  to  suggest  that  John  Hughes, 
an  old  and  tried  Philadelphia  friend,  should  be  the 
pfificer  in  that   city.     "  You    tell  me,"   the   Prime 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  171 

Minister  had  said,  "  you  are  poor,  and  unable  to 
bear  the  tax;  others  tell  me  you  are  able.  Now 
take  the  business  into  your  own  hands;  you  will  see 
how  and  where  it  pinches,  and  will  certainly  let  us 
know  it,  in  which  case  it  shall  be  eased." 

The  worst  that  can  be  said  of  Franklin  in  thus 
yielding  to  the  suggestion  of  Grenville  is  that  he 
acted  with  gross  unwisdom.  Of  his  good  faith  in 
the  matter  there  can  be  no  possible  shadow  of  doubt, 
although  his  enemies  were  not  slow  to  assert  that 
self-interest  was  the  mainspring  of  the  appointment. 
The  Stamp  Act  being  inevitable,  as  he  must  have 
reasoned,  why  not  do  his  friend  Hughes  a  good  turn 
by  allowing  him  to  reap  some  legitimate  benefit 
therefrom  ?  "  We  none  of  us,  I  believe,  foresaw  or 
imagined,  that  this  compliance  with  the  request  of 
the  minister  would  or  could  have  been  called  an  ap- 
plication of  ours,  and  adduced  as  a  proof  of  our 
approbation  of  the  act  we  had  been  opposing." 
Thus  wrote  the  agent  in  explaining,  much  later,  the 
position  of  himself  and  his  colleagues,  and  he  ob- 
served:  "  Otherwise  I  think  few  of  us  would  have 
named  at  all;  I  am  sure  I  should  not."  * 

Yet  for  all  that,  the  news  of  Hughes's  nomination 
excited  a  storm  of  indignation  in  Philadelphia. 
There  were  some  persons  whose  anger  against 
Franklin  led  them  to  the  length  of  declaring  that  he 
had  tried  to  get  for  himself  the  position  of  stamp 
distributor.  The  philosopher  began  to  sink  in  the 
estimation   of  the  town,  and  some  of  his  warmest 


*  From  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tucker,  Dean  of  Worcester. 


172  Benjamin  Franklin  [1762- 

friends  shook  their  heads  gravely ;  not  that  they 
questioned  his  integrity,  but  that  for  once  they  were 
bitterly  disappointed  in  a  man  who  heretofore  had 
appeared  to  be  a  pillar  of  good  sense.  "  How  could 
he  have  so  mistaken  the  temper  of  America  ?*"  they 
asked,  as  they  heard  from  all  quarters  of  the  country 
of  the  discontent  fomented  by  the  passage  of  the 
hated  bill.  Then,  in  September,  came  the  joyful 
report  that  the  Grenville  ministry  had  fallen  ;  prob- 
ably the  act  would  be  repealed.  The  new  ministers 
did  not  desire  repeal,  but  the  unsuspecting  Philadel- 
phians  rang  the  church  bells,  drank  loyal  toasts, 
made  bonfires,  and  burned  in  effigy  the  unfortunate 
Hughes.  Was  this  to  be  the  end  of  Franklin's 
political  usefulness  ?  Bold,  indeed,  was  the  citizen 
who  would  venture  to  predict  otherwise. 

Surely,  Hughes  must  have  anathematised  the  day 
upon  which  his  patron  nominated  him  for  distribu- 
tor. Drums  and  bells  were  muffled  in  his  dishonour ; 
he  was  expelled  from  the  fire  company  of  which  he 
had  been  a  welcome  member ;  he  was  treated  as  a 
traitor,  and  made  to  feel  that  his  life  was  by  no 
means  too  secure.  The  excited  Assembly  protested 
vigorously  against  the  stamp  tyranny,  manfully  re- 
solving that  "it  is  the  inherent  birthright  and  in- 
dubitable privilege  of  every  British  subject  to  be 
taxed  only  by  his  own  consent  or  that  of  his  legal 
representatives,"  while  a  little  later  a  non-importa- 
tion agreement,  which  was  being  circulated  through- 
out indignant  America,  was  signed  by  the  leading 
merchants  of  Philadelphia.  By  this  compact  it  was 
determined,  among  other  precautions,  to  order  no 


1765]  In  Thorny  Paths  173 

English  goods  during  the  enforcement  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  and  many  were  the  subscribers  to  what  we 
might  now  term  the  patriotic  boycott.  Yes,  and 
John  Dickinson,  he  who  had  so  vaHantly  defended 
the  toryism  of  the  proprietors  (how  suddenly  had 
the  old  controversy  sunk  into  insignificance!)  came 
out  in  an  address,  anonymous  but  to  the  purpose, 
warning  his  countrymen  of  the  dangers  of  the  tax. 

"  Think,  oh  !  think,"  he  says,  in  urging  unflinching  obedience  to  the 
non-importation  agreement,  "of  the  endless  misery  you  must  entail 
upon  yourselves  and  your  country  by  touching  the  pestilential  cargoes 
that  have  been  sent  you.  Destruction  lurks  within  them.  To  re- 
ceive them  is  death.     It  is  worse  than  death  ;  it  is  Slavery  I  " 

Thus  did  the  spirit  of  defiance  take  shape  until  the 
enforcement  of  the  tax  became  a  practical  impossi- 
bility. The  public  of^ces  were  closed  ;  the  detested 
stamps  were  burned  with  ceremony;  legal  papers 
remained  undrawn  ;  English  manufactures  were 
tabooed,  and  home-spun  clothes  became  not  only  a 
sign  of  protest,  but  a  fad  as  well. 

One  ill-advised  step  had  cost  Franklin  dear.  Next 
to  Hughes  he  was  the  most  unpopular  man  in  the 
province.  Not  only  were  his  motives  assailed  (some 
of  his  enemies  pretended  to  believe  that  he  had 
secretly  favoured  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act 
from  the  first),  but  even  his  family  came  in  for  a 
share  of  abuse.  It  was  feared  that  Mrs.  Franklin 
and  her  daughter  might  suffer  from  the  violence  of 
the  mob;  Governor  Franklin  wanted  them  both  to 
seek  a  temporary  home  in  New  Jersey.  The  former 
lady  has  left  us,  in  a  letter  to  the  husband  she  would 
never  see  again,  a  record  of  her  unpleasant  ordeal. 


174  Benjamin  Franklin  [1765 

"  I  was  for  nine  days  kept  in  a  continual  hurry  by  people  to  remove, 
and  Sally  was  persuaded  to  go  to  Burlington  for  safety.  Cousin 
Davenport  came  and  told  me  that  more  than  twenty  people  had  told 
him  it  was  his  duty  to  be  with  me.  I  said  I  was  pleased  to  receive 
civility  from  anybody.  So  he  staid  with  me  some  time  ;  towards 
night  I  said  he  should  fetch  a  gun  or  two,  as  we  had  none.  I  sent 
to  ask  my  brother  to  come  and  bring  his  gun  also,  so  we  turned  one 
room  into  a  magazine  ;  I  ordered  some  sort  of  defence  upstairs,  such 
as  I  could  manage  myself.  I  said,  when  I  was  advised  to  remove, 
that  I  was  very  sure  you  had  done  nothing  to  hurt  anybody,  nor  had 
I  given  any  offence  to  any  person  at  all,  nor  would  I  be  made  uneasy 
by  anybody,  nor  would  I  stir  or  show  the  least  uneasiness,  but  if  any 
one  came  to  disturb  me  I  would  show  a  proper  resentment." 

Plucky  matron !  She  was  not  a  woman  to  set  the 
placid  Delaware  on  fire,  but  the  blood  of  heroines 
flowed  in  her  veins. 

As  it  happened,  Mrs.  Franklin  was  not  molested ; 
so  she  could  dismantle  that  improvised  magazine, 
dismiss  her  cousin,  and  send  over  to  Jersey  for  the 
timid  Sarah.  The  hostility  toward  her  lord  and 
master  had  its  most  dangerous  manifestation  in  a 
vast  deal  of  angry  condemnation,  and  in  the  printing 
of  some  scurrilous  literature.  Perhaps  the  doctor's 
enemies  hoped  that  he  would  resign  his  offices,  come 
meekly  home  to  Philadelphia,  and  sink  into  the 
semi-obscurity  of  private  life.  If  they  fondly  cher- 
ished any  such  idea  they  were  doomed  to  bitter  dis- 
appointment. Benjamin  Franklin  was  not  the  man 
to  be  overwhelmed  by  a  transient  wave  of  ill-temper. 


CHAPTER  VII 

WORKING   FOR   THE   COLONIES 
1 766- 1 773 


AD  it  remained  for  Parliament  to  repeal 
the  Stamp  Act  for  purely  sentimen- 
tal reasons — that  is  to  say,  merely 
from  a  desire  to  show  a  love  for  the 
colonies — then  might  the  Americans 
have  awaited  deliverance  in  vain.  The  new  minis- 
try, headed  by  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham,  was  at 
first  in  no  mood  for  reversing  the  policy  of  Grenville 
and  his  associates,  nor  did  it  expect  to  treat  America 
otherwise  than  as  a  rebellious  child  who  stood  in 
need  of  a  thorough  disciplining.  But  when  the  re- 
fusal of  the  provincials  to  buy  British  goods  began 
to  affect  the  interests  of  the  mother  country,  caus- 
ing the  home  producers  to  rise  up  in  alarm,  and 
when  it  became  apparent  that  the  tax  would  be  re- 
sisted unto  the  bitter  end,  a  reaction  quickly  set  in, 
and  the  government  discovered  that  it  was  not 
dealing  with  a  flock  of  meek,  spiritless  sheep.  What 
was  more,  the  courageous  Pitt,  who  had  been  ill 
when  the  resolution  to  impose  the  tax  was  taken, 

175 


176  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

novv  appeared  in  the  Commons  to  valiantly  defend 
the  cause  of  his  kin  beyond  the  sea.  "  We  are 
told,"  he  said,  "  that  America  is  obstinate — that 
America  is  almost  in  open  rebellion.  Sir,  I  rejoice 
that  America  has  resisted ;  three  millions  of  people 
so  dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily 
to  submit  to  be  slaves  would  have  been  fit  instru- 
ments to  make  slaves  of  all  the  rest." 

So  forcibly  did  the  expediency  of  repeal  make 
itself  felt  that  the  ministers  soon  opposed  the  efforts 
of  Grenville  to  pledge  the  House  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  measure,  nor  was  it  long  before  Parliament 
was  employed  in  hearing  testimony,  as  to  the  effect 
of  the  tax,  from  merchants,  manufacturers,  revenue 
ofificers,  and  many  others.  Here  was  just  the  op- 
portunity for  Franklin,  who  had  been  on  the  alert 
to  take  advantage  of  the  ministerial  change  of  heart 
by  strenuously  preaching  repeal,  and  when  he  was 
asked  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  the  House,  to  shed 
added  light  upon  the  situation,  he  rose  to  the  occa- 
sion in  a  fashion  that  displayed  in  their  greatest 
brilliance  his  abilities  and  mental  quickness.  For 
clearness,  conciseness  of  statement,  and  the  faculty 
of  making  the  very  most  of  his  case  in  a  compara- 
tively short  compass,  nothing  could  have  surpassed 
the  famous  examination  of  which  he  was  the  imper- 
turbable hero.  It  matters  not  that  he  knew  before- 
hand, through  discussion  with  his  friends,  the  nature 
of  some  of  the  questions  to  be  put  to  him;  the  fact 
remains  that  his  answers,  several  of  which  were 
shrewd  replies  to  unexpected  queries  from  his  ene- 
mies, show  us  the  man  in  his  finest  form  as  a  states- 


17731        Working  for  the  Colonies         i77 

man  keen  in  observation,  impressive  in  conviction, 
and  powerful  in  coping  with  dangerous  opposition. 

"  The  dignity  of  liis  bearing,  his  self-possession,  the  promptness  and 
propriety  with  which  he  replied  to  each  interrogatory,  the  profound 
knowledge  he  displayed  upon  every  topic  presented  to  him,  his  per- 
fect acquaintance  with  the  political  condition  and  internal  affairs  of 
his  country,  the  fearlessness  with  which  he  defended  the  late  doings 
of  his  countrymen,  and  censured  the  measures  of  Parliament,  his 
pointed  expressions  and  characteristic  manner  ;  all  these  combined 
to  rivet  the  attention,  and  excite  the  astonishment  of  his  audience." 

Thus  wrote  the  admiring  Sparks,  who  went  even 
further,  however,  and  fell  into  the  error  of  stating 
that  the  doctor  knew  not  beforehand  the  nature  or 
the  form  of  any  one  of  the  questions. 

When  asked,  "  Do  you  think  it  right  that  America 
should  be  protected  by  this  country,  and  pay  no  part 
of  the  expense  ?  "  (a  question  which  the  Grenville 
party  designed  as  a  "  poser  "),  Franklin  quickly  an- 
swered :  ' '  That  is  not  the  case.  The  colonies  raised, 
clothed,  and  paid  during  the  last  war  near  twenty- 
five  thousand  men,  and  spent  many  millions  " — and 
to  the  further  interrogation,  "  Were  you  not  reim- 
bursed by  Parliament?"  he  replied:  "We  were 
only  reimbursed  what,  in  your  opinion,  w^e  had 
advanced  beyond  our  proportion,  or  beyond  what 
might  reasonably  be  expected  from  us;  and  it  was  a 
very  small  part  of  what  we  spent.  Pennsylvania,  in 
particular,  disbursed  about  ^^500,000,  and  the  reim- 
bursements, in  the  whole,  did  not  exceed  i^6o.ooo. " 

So  the  inquisition  went  on,  with  Franklin  always 
ready,  always  having  the  advantage,  until  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-four  questions  had  been  answered 


17^  Benjamin  Franklin  066- 

with  inimitable  spirit  and  telling  effect.  To  reproduce 
the  list  would  be  to  transgress  the  limit  of  space  set 
for  this  memoir,  but,  ere  we  leave  such  a  triumphant 
episode  of  our  hero's  career,  let  us  recall  a  few  of 
the  most  characteristic  replies.      For  instance: 

"  Do  you  not  think  the  people  of  America  would  submit  to  pay  the 
stamp  duty,  if  it  was  moderated  ?" 

"  No,  never,  unless  compelled  by  force  of  arms." 

' '  What  was  the  temper  of  America  towards  Great  Britain  before 
the  year  1763?  " 

"The  best  in  the  world.  .  .  .  They  were  governed  by  this 
country  at  the  expense  only  of  a  little  pen,  ink,  and  paper  ;  they 
were  led  by  a  thread.  They  had  not  only  a  respect,  but  an  affection 
for  Great  Britain  ;  for  its  laws,  its  customs  and  manners,  and  even  a 
fondness  for  its  fashions,  that  greatly  increased  the  commerce.  Na- 
tives of  Britain  were  always  treated  with  particular  regard  ;  to  be  an 
Old-England  man  was,  of  itself,  a  character  of  some  respect,  and  gave 
a  kind  of  rank  among  us." 

"  And  what  is  their  temper  now?  " 

"  O,  very  much  altered." 

"  What  is  your  opinion  of  a  further  tax,  imposed  on  the  same 
principle  with  that  of  the  Stamp  Act?  How  would  the  Americans 
receive  it?  " 

"Just  as  they  do  this.     They  would  not  pay  it." 

"You  say  the  colonies  have  always  submitted  to  external  taxes, 
and  object  to  the  right  of  Parliament  only  in  laying  internal  taxes  ; 
how  can  you  show  that  there  is  any  kind  of  difference  between  the 
two  taxes  to  the  colony  on  which  they  may  be  laid  ?  " 

"  I  think  the  difference  is  very  great.  An  external  \.2i.y.  is  a  duty 
laid  on  commodities  imported  ;  that  duty  is  added  to  the  first  cost 
and  other  charges  on  the  commodity,  and  when  it  is  offered  to  sale, 
makes  a  part  of  the  price.  If  the  people  do  not  like  it  at  that  price, 
they  refuse  it  ;  they  are  not  obliged  to  pay  it.  But  an  internal  tax 
is  forced  from  the  people  without  their  consent,  if  not  laid  by  their 
own  representatives.  The  Stamp  Act  says,  we  shall  have  no  com- 
merce, make  no  exchange  of  property  with  each  other,  neither  pur- 
chase, nor  grant,  nor  recover  debts  ;  we  shall  neither  marry  nor 
make  our  wills,  unless  we  pay  such   and  such  sums  ;  and  thus  it  is 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         179 

intended  to  extort  our  money  from  us,  or  ruin  us  by  the  consequences 
of  refusing  to  pay  it." 

"Can  anything  less  than  a  military  force  carry  the  Stamp  Act  into 
execution  ?" 

"  I  do  not  see  how  a  military  force  can  be  applied  to  that  purpose." 

"  Why  may  it  not  ?  " 

"  Suppose  a  military  force  sent  into  America,  they  will  find  nobody 
in  arms  ;  what  are  they  then  to  do  !  They  cannot  force  a  man  to  take 
stamps  who  chooses  to  do  without  them.  They  will  not  find  a  rebel- 
lion ;  they  may  indeed  make  one." 

"  Supposing  the  Stamp  Act  continued  and  enforced,  do  you  imag- 
ine that  ill-humour  will  induce  the  Americans  to  give  as  much  for 
worse  manufactures  of  their  own,  and  use  them,  preferable  to  better 
of  ours?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  so.  People  will  pay  as  freely  to  gratify  one  passion 
as  another,  their  resentment  as  their  pride." 

"  If  the  Stamp  Act  should  be  repealed,  would  it  induce  the  assem- 
blies of  America  to  acknowledge  the  rights  of  Parliament  to  tax 
them,  and  would  they  erase  their  resolutions  ?  " 

"  No,  never." 

"  Is  there  a  power  on  earth  that  can  force  them  to  erase  them  ?  " 

"  No  power,  how  great  soever,  can  force  men  to  change  their 
opinions." 

"What  used  to  be  the  pride  of  the  Americans?" 

"  To  indulge  in  the  fashions  and  manufactures  of  Great  Britain." 

"  What  is  now  their  pride  ?" 

"  To  wear  their  old  clothes  over  again,  till  they  can  make  new 
ones." 

Nobly  had  Franklin  vindicated  himself.  In  Lon- 
don he  was  the  most  talked-of  man  of  the  moment, 
while  later  on,  when  the  news  of  his  brave  defence 
and  of  the  subsequent  repeal  of  the  tax  reached  his 
own  country,  there  was  much  rejoicing,  with  many 
a  kind  word  for  the  upholder  of  colonial  liberties, 
and  some  pretty  drinking  of  toasts  in  his  honour. 
The  great  man  was  placed  once  again  upon  the 
pedestal  of  popularity.     For  shortly  after  this  ex- 


i8o  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

amination  came  the  death  of  the  Stamp  Act,  much 
to  the  disgust  of  George  III.,  who  had  to  be  con- 
tent with  the  passage  of  a  Declaratory  Act  setting 
forth  "  the  right  of  Parliament  to  bind  the  colonies 
in  all  cases  whatsoever."  Not  love  for  America, 
but  an  appeal  to  practical  issues  had  won  the  day,  and 
in  strengthening  the  force  of  that  argument  no  one 
had  done  such  signal  service  as  Benjamin  Franklin.* 
In  June  Franklin  wrote  to  the  Assembly  asking 
for  leave  to  return  home  the  following  spring  (a  re- 
quest which  was  practically  ignored  by  his  reappoint- 
ment as  agent) ;  he  then  set  out  for  a  trip  on  the 
Continent,  and  soon  began  to  wonder  how  the  anti- 
proprietaries  would  fare  during  the  Philadelphia 
elections  of  the  coming  October.  In  spite  of  the 
re-established  popularity  of  the  philosopher  he  still 
had  some  bitter  enemies  in  the  Quaker  city — 
enemies  who  could  see  neither  virtue  or  honesty  in 
him — and  squibs  and  lying  pamphlets  were  again 
used  as  a  medium  for  defeating  the  "  old  ticket  " 
party.  It  was  asserted,  for  instance,  that  Franklin 
had  "  aimed  a  poisoned  dagger  at  the  breast  of  his 
parent  country."  In  its  issue  of  September  i8th 
the  Pennsylvania  Journal  of  the  Messrs.  Bradford 
came  out  with  "An  Essay,  Towards  discovering  the 
Authors  and  Promoters  of  The  memorable  Stamp 
Act,"  which  was  ostensibly  a  letter  "  from  a  Gentle- 
man in  London,  to  his  friend  in  Philadelphia."  The 
writer  broadly  intimated  that  the  real  originator  of 
the  Stamp  Act  was  the  agent  himself. 

*  The  bill  for  repeal  received  the  King's  assent  on  March  i8, 
1766, 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         i8i 

"  He  proposed  this  scheme  to  General  Braddock,  and  there  are  per- 
sons of  good  credit  in  Maryland  who  heard  him  deliver  his  opinion 
to  the  General.  An  opinion  which  he  has  cultivated  with  assiduity, 
until  he  found  by  the  issue  that  it  was  vain  and  chimerical.  We  do 
not  affirm,  tliat  he  was  the  very  person  who  proposed  the  act  to 

G le  ;  yet  we  can  even  give  the  strongest  proofs  of  this  fact,  that 

the  nature  of  the  thing  can  admit  of.     The  act  was  doubtless  formed 

and  projected  under  the  joint  influence  of  Lord  Bute  and  G e 

G le  ;  and  Dr.  F n's  chief  interest  at  court  is  with  Lord  Bute. 

F n's  friends  in  Philadelphia  boasted  of  his  interest  with  the  late 

ministry  ;  and  when  Mr.  H s  told  Mr.  F n  that  his  want  of 

interest  at  court  was  objected  as  an  argument  against  his  appoint- 
ment as  agent,  F n  forgot  his  usual  reserve,  and  swore  by  his 

Maker,  that  it  was  false,  that  he  had  interest  with  Lord  Bute,  and 

asserted  that  he  thought  he  had  also  some  interest   with  G e 

G le." 

To  read  on  further,  and  accept  the  statement  of  the 
Essay  "  as  truth,  was  to  believe  that  the  aforesaid 

Dr.  F n  "  was  nothing  more  or  less  than  alow, 

unprincipled  schemer,  from  whose  machinations 
America  would  never  be  safe  unless  he  reposed  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sea.  But  in  this  instance  calumny 
was  unsuccessful,  and  the  "  old  "  party  came  in  the 
victors. 

' '  The  old  ticket  forever,"  wrote  Sarah  Franklin  to  Governor  Frank- 
lin, of  New  Jersey — who,  by  the  way,  was  developing  into  a  pro- 
nounced Tory  official, — "  the  old  ticket  forever  !  We  have  it  by  34 
votes  !  '  God  bless  our  worthy  and  noble  agent,  and  all  his  family  ! ' 
were  the  joyful  words  we  were  waked  with  at  two  or  three  o'clock 
this  morning,  by  the  White  Oaks." 

But  events  of  national  import  ai"e  soon  to  hurry  on 
so  fast  that  a  little  thing  like  a  Philadelphia  election 
must  sink  into  insignificance,  and  the  agent  from 
Pennsylvania  (who  will  also  in  turn  become  agent 


1 82  Benjamin  Franklin  [n(>(^ 

for  Georgia,  New  Jersey,  and  Massachusetts)  will 
have  much  to  worry  him  as  new  causes  for  tension 
arise  ominously  between  the  colonies  and  the 
mother  country. 

"  To  tranquillise  America,"  says  Bancroft,  "  no  more  was  wanting 
than  a  respect  for  its  rights,  and  some  accommodation  to  its  con- 
firmed habits  and  opinions.  The  colonies  had,  each  of  them,  a 
direction  of  its  own  and  a  character  of  its  own,  which  required  to  be 
harmoniously  reconciled  with  the  motion  impressed  upon  it  by  the 
imperial  legislature.  But  this  demanded  study,  self-possession,  and 
candour.  The  parliament  of  that  day,  recognising  no  reciprocity  of 
obligations,  thought  nothing  so  wrong  as  thwarting  its  will." 

Such  was  the  temper  of  a  Parliament  which,  in  the 
summer  of  1767,  passed  the  Townshend  bill  taxing 
the  colonies  by  duties  on  their  imports  of  paper, 
glass,  painter's  colours,  lead,  and  tea,  and  encourag- 
ing the  billeting  of  royal  troops  upon  the  Americans. 
Twenty  Franklins  could  not  have  stemmed  this  tide 
of  legislative  stupidity,  nor  could  twenty  Parlia- 
ments have  prevented  the  storm  of  opposition 
which  soon  arose  from  beyond  the  sea.  These 
taxes,  "  external  "  though  they  were,  and  the  dan- 
gerous way  wherein  the  revenue  therefrom  was  to 
be  appropriated — the  direct  payment  by  the  crown 
of  American  civil  officers  and  of  an  American  stand- 
ing army — filled  the  hearts  of  all  true  Americans 
with  a  new  dread,  a  new  grievance  against  the 
parent  country.     As  certain  Bostonians  said: 

"  We  shall  be  obliged  to  maintain  in  luxury  sycophants,  court  para- 
sites, and  hungry  dependents,  who  will  be  sent  over  to  watch  and 
oppress  those  who  support  them.  .  .  .  The  governors  will  be 
men  rewarded  for  despicable  service,  hackneyed  in  deceit  and  av- 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonics         183 

arice  ;  or  some  noble  scoundrel,  who  has  spent  his  fortune  in  every 
kind  of  debauchery."  * 

In  fine,  if  the  new  policy  was  to  be  carried  to  its 
natural  and  logical  conclusion,  the  provincials  would 
be  turned  into  so  many  puppets,  made  to  dance  on 
strings  pulled  either  at  Westminster  or — since  King 
George  wished  to  govern — at  Windsor  Castle.  The 
colonial  assemblies  might  adjourn  forever  ;  free 
political  action  on  the  part  of  their  constituents 
would  become  a  thing  of  the  past. 

No  one  foresaw  more  forcibly  than  did  Franklin 
the  perils  accruing  from  the  rancour  which  had  now 
set  in  against  the  "  rebellious  "  colonies — a  rancour 
which  had  for  its  most  illustrious  instigator,  as  the 
American  little  realised  until  much  later,  the  sover- 
eign himself.  The  King  was  well-intentioned,  but 
narrow,  bigoted,  mentally  short-sighted,  and  in  his 
eyes  the  independent  spirit  of  the  provincials,  as 
displayed  in  their  protest  against  the  injustices  of 
Parliament,  fell  little  short  of  high  treason.  There 
were  many  other  eyes,  unfortunately,  which  were 
blinded  in  the  same  way,  and  try  as  he  did  to  open 
them  by  numerous  letters  to  the  London  newspapers, 
the  agent  from  Pennsylvania  must  have  felt  that  his 
task  was  a  hard  one.  So  it  may  have  been  with  a 
not  over-light  heart  that  he  crossed  the  Channel  late 
in  the  summer  of  1767,  and  visited  Paris,  accom- 
panied by  Sir  John  Pringle,  physician  to  the  virtu- 
ous consort  of  obstinate  King  George.  Yet  he  had 
not  lost  the  faculty  of  enjoying  a  holiday;  he  found 
his  trip  a  source  of  diversion,  and  was  not  the  less 

*  B&ncxoii's,  History  of  the  United  States  of  America  _;  last  revision, 


184  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

pleased,  of  course,  because  of  the  respect  with  which 
he  and  the  worthy  Sir  John  were  treated.  The 
travellers  were  duly  "  presented  "  to  the  royal 
family  of  France,  then  at  Versailles,  and  Franklin 
writes  to   a   friend    that  his  Majesty,   Louis  XV., 

did  me  too  the  honour  of  taking  some  notice  of 
me;  that  is  saying  enough;  for  I  would  not  have 
you  think  me  so  much  pleased  with  this  King  and 
Queen,  as  to  have  a  whit  less  regard  than  I  used  to 
have  for  ours.  No  Frenchman  shall  go  beyond  me 
in  thinking  my  own  King  and  Queen  the  very  best 
in  the  world,  and  the  most  amiable."  Here  was 
loyalty  with  a  vengeance.  Had  the  King  whom  he 
eulogised  as  the  "  very  best  in  the  world  "  been 
endowed  with  more  common  sense  and  political  in- 
sight, Franklin  might  have  gone  on  admiring  him 
unto  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

In  the  meantime  the  outcry  raised  in  America 
against  the  imposition  of  the  new  taxes,  and  the 
resolution  of  many  of  her  inhabitants  to  resort  again 
to  the  effective  weapon  of  non-importation,  acted  as 
fuel  to  the  fire  already  kindled  by  the  British  op- 
pressors/)f  the  colonies.  On  his  return  to  London, 
therefore,  Franklin  did  all  that  he  could,  by  pen  and 
in  conversation,  to  place  the  American  side  of  the 
controversy  in  the  proper  light.  He  might  have 
saved  himself  the  trouble,  creditable  as  was  the 
effort;  English  political  arrogance  had  now  reached 
such  a  momentum  that  nothing  save  the  successful 
ending  of  the  revolutionary  struggle  could  stop  its 
course.  Then,  too,  came  changes  in  the  ministry, 
and  he  was  called  upon  to  exert  a  diplomatic  reserve 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         185 

between  the  opposite  intentions  of  Lord  Sandwich, 
the  new  Postmaster-General,  who  wished  to  oust 
him  from  his  postmaster-j^eneralship  of  the  colonies, 
and  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  who  wanted  the  philoso- 
pher appointed  to  some  important  office  directly  in 
contact  with  the  members  of  the  cabinet.  "  I  am 
told,"  Franklin  writes  to  his  son,  "  there  has  been 
a  talk  of  getting  me  appointed  under-secretary  to 
Lord  Hillsborough;  but  with  little  likelihood,  as  it 
is  a  settled  point  here  that  I  am  too  much  of  an 
American." 

Lord  Hillsborough  was  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
America,  and  it  was  thought  by  the  friends  of  the 
colonies  that  much  good  might  be  accomplished  by 
bringing  into  his  department  so  distinguished  a 
champion  of  provincial  rights  as  the  doctor.  Frank- 
lin, on  his  part,  was  ready  to  serve  if  he  could  fulfil 
any  useful  mission  by  so  doing,  but  it  is  evident  that 
he  did  not  look  forward  to  the  task  with  any  en- 
thusiasm.    As  he  told  Governor  Franklin  : 

"  I  did  not  think  fit  to  decline  any  favour  so  great  a  man  [as  the  Duke 
of  Grafton]  had  expressed  an  inclination  to  do  me,  because  at  court, 
if  one  shows  an  unwillingness  to  be  obliged,  it  is  often  construed  as  a 
mark  of  mental  hostility,  and  one  makes  an  enemy  ;  yet,  so  great  is 
my  inclination  to  be  at  home  and  at  rest,  that  I  shall  not  be  sorry  if 
this  business  falls  through,  and  I  am  suffered  to  retire  to  my  old 
post ;  nor  indeed  very  sorry  if  they  take  that  from  me,  too,  on  ac- 
count of  my  zeal  for  America,  in  which  some  of  my  friends  have 
hinted  to  me  that  I  have  been  too  open." 

The  scheme  to  place  the  American  in  the  English 
service  did  not  result  in  anything.  This  was  fortun- 
ate, seeing  that   the  appointment  must  inevitably 


1 86  Benjamin  Franklin  ['766- 

have  tied  his  hands,  rather  than  have  given  him  a 
freer  rein.  His  enemies  contented  themselves  with 
abusing  him  in  the  newspapers,  hoping  thereby  to 
provoke  him  to  resign  his  postmaster-generalship  of 
the  colonies,  but  Franklin  said,  with  that  calm 
humour  which  never  failed  him:  "  In  this  they  are 
not  likely  to  succeed,  I  being  deficient  in  that  Chris- 
tian virtue  of  resignation.  If  they  would  have  my 
office  they  must  take  it." 

And  now  events  were  marching  on  across  the 
water,  and  the  doctor  could  only  hope  against  hope, 
as  the  situation  grew  worse  and  the  bonds  between 
the  mother  country  and  her  rightly  defiant  children 
seemed  more  and  more  in  danger  of  being  rent 
asunder.  His  experience,  too,  was  not  always 
pleasant  ;  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1771  (ten 
months  after  the  presence  of  British  troops  in  Bos- 
ton, kept  there  to  overawe  the  people,  had  led  to 
the  sad  conflict  termed  the  "  massacre  "),  he  had  a 
shining  illustration  of  the  amenities  of  party  hate. 
His  adversary  was  Lord  Hillsborough,  who  by 
reason  of  his  "conceit,  wrong-headedness,  obstinacy, 
and  passion,"  was  probably  the  very  worst  Secretary 
of  State  for  America  that  the  English  Government, 
or  the  distressed  colonies,  could  have  possessed. 
No  one  had  a  greater  contempt  for  his  limited  abil- 
ities and  his  narrowness  of  view  than  did  Franklin. 
But  when  the  latter  was  appointed  agent  for  Massa- 
chusetts he  went,  in  duty  bound,  to  report  the 
circumstance  officially  to  his  lordship,  and  the  recep- 
tion he  there  met  with  must  have  intensified  a  hun- 
dred-fold his  dislike  for  the  Secretary.      Franklin 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         187 

has  himself  left  for  posterity  a  dramatic  record  of 
the  interview,  and  it  forms  such  interesting  reading 
that  we  may  be  pardoned  for  giving  it  in  full. 
Here  are  the  "  minutes  "; 

"Wednesday,  iG  January,  1771.  I  went  this  morning  to  wait  on 
Lord  Hillsborough.  The  porter  at  first  denied  liis  lordship,  on 
which  I  left  my  name  and  drove  off.  But  before  the  coach  got  out 
of  the  square,  the  coachman  heard  a  call,  turned  and  went  back  to 
the  door,  when  the  porter  came  and  said,  '  His  lordship  will  see  you, 
Sir.'  I  was  shown  into  the  levee  room,  where  I  found  Governor 
Bernard,  who,  I  understand,  attends  there  constantly.  Several  other 
gentlemen  were  there  attending,  with  whom  I  sat  down  a  few  min- 
utes, when  Secretary  Pownall  *  came  out  to  us,  and  said  his  lordship 
desired  I  would  come  in.  I  was  pleased  with  this  ready  admission 
and  preference,  having  sometimes  waited  three  or  four  hours  for  my 
turn  ;  and,  being  pleased,  I  could  more  easily  put  on  the  open,  cheer- 
ful countenance  that  my  friends  advised  me  to  wear.  His  lordship 
came  towards  me  and  said,  '  I  was  dressing  in  order  to  go  to  court ; 
but,  hearing  that  you  were  at  the  door,  who  are  a  man  of  business,  I 
determined  to  see  you  immediately.'  I  thanked  his  lordship  and 
said  that  my  business  at  present  was  not  much  ;  it  was  only  to  pay 
my  respects  to  his  lordship,  and  to  acquaint  him  with  my  appoint- 
ment by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  be 
their  agent  here,  in  which  station  if  I  could  be  of  any  service — (I 
was  going  on  to  say — '  to  the  public,  I  should  be  very  happy  ; '  but 
his  lordship,  whose  countenance  changed  at  my  naming  that  province, 
cut  me  short  by  saying,  with  something  between  a  smile  and  a  sneer) : 

L.  H.  I  must  set  you  right  there,  Mr.  Franklin  ;  you  are  not 
agent. 

B.  F.     Why,  my  lord  ? 

L.  H.     You  are  not  appointed. 

B.  F.  I  do  not  understand  your  lordship  ;  I  have  the  appoint- 
ment in  my  pocket. 

L.  H.  You  are  mistaken  ;  I  have  later  and  better  advices.  I 
have  a  letter  from  Governor  Hutchinson  ;  he  would  not  give  his 
assent  to  the  bill. 


*  Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Trade. 


Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 


B.  F.     There  was  no  bill,  my  lord  ;  it  was  a  vote  of  the  House. 

L.  H.  There  was  a  bill  presented  to  the  Governor  for  the  pur- 
pose of  appointing  you  and  another,  one  Dr.  Lee,  I  think  he  is 
called,  to  which  the  Governor  refused  his  assent. 

B.  F.  I  cannot  understand  this,  my  lord  ;  I  think  there  must 
be  some  mistake  in  it.  Is  your  lordship  quite  sure  that  you  have 
such  a  letter  ? 

L.  H.  I  will  convince  you  of  it  directly.  (Rings  the  bell.) 
Mr.  Pownall  will  come  in  and  satisfy  you. 

B.  F.  It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  now  detain  your  lordship 
from  dressing.  You  are  going  to  court.  I  will  wait  on  your  lord- 
ship another  time. 

L.  H.  No,  stay;  he  will  come  immediately.  {To  the  servant.) 
Tell  Mr.  Pownall  I  want  him. 

(Mr.  Pownall  conies  in.) 

L.  H.  Have  not  you  at  hand  Governor  Hutchinson's  letter, 
mentioning  his  refusing  his  assent  to  the  bill  for  appointing  Dr. 
Franklin  agent  ? 

Sec.  p.     My  lord  ? 

L.  H.     Is  there  not  such  a  letter  ? 

Sec.  p.  No,  my  lord  ;  there  is  a  letter  relating  to  some  bill  for 
the  payment  of  a  salary  to  Mr.  De  Berdt,  and  I  think  to  some  other 
agent,  to  which  the  Governor  had  refused  his  assent. 

L.  H.  And  is  there  nothing  in  the  letter  to  the  purpose  I 
mention  ? 

Sec.  p.     No,  my  lord. 

B.  F.  I  thought  it  could  not  well  be,  my  lord,  as  my  letters 
are  by  the  last  ships,  and  they  mention  no  such  thing.  Here  is  the 
authentic  copy  of  the  vote  of  the  House  appointing  me,  in  which 
there  is  no  mention  of  any  act  intended.  Will  your  lordship  please 
to  look  at  it  ?  {With  see7ning  imudllingness  he  takes  it,  but  does  not 
look  into  it.) 

L.  H.  An  information  of  this  kind  is  not  properly  brought  to 
me  as  Secretary  of  State.     The  Board  of  Trade  is  the  proper  place. 

B.  F.     1  will  leave  the  paper  then  with  Mr.  Pownall  to  be 

L.  H.     {Hastily.)     To  what  end  would  you  leave  it  with  him? 

B.  F.     To  be  entered  on  the  minutes  of  that  Board,  as  usual. 

L.  H.  {Angrily.)  It  shall  not  be  entered  there.  No  such 
paper  shall  be  entered  there,  while  I  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
business  of  that  Board.     The  House  of  Representatives  has  no  right 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         189 

to  appoint  an  agent.  We  shall  take  no  notice  of  any  agents,  but 
such  as  are  appointed  by  acts  of  Assembly,  to  which  the  Governor 
gives  his  assent.  We  have  had  confusion  enough  already.  Here  is 
one  agent  appointed  by  the  Council,  another  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. Which  of  these  is  agent  for  the  province  ?  Who  are  we 
to  hear  in  provincial  affairs  ?  An  agent  appointed  by  act  of  Assem- 
bly we  can  understand.  No  other  will  be  attended  to  for  the  future, 
I  can  assure  you. 

B.  F.  I  cannot  conceive,  my  lord,  why  the  consent  of  the  Gov- 
ernor should  be  thought  necessary  to  the  appointment  of  an  agent  for 
the  people.     It  seems  to  me  that 

L.  H.  {With  a  mixed  look  of  anger  and  contempt^  I  shall  not 
enter  into  a  dispute  withjjv?*.  Sir,  upon  this  subject. 

B.  F.  I  beg  your  lordship's  pardon ;  I  do  not  presume  to  dis- 
pute with  your  lordship  ;  I  would  only  say,  that  it  seems  to  me,  that 
every  body  of  men,  who  cannot  appear  in  person,  where  business  re- 
lating to  them  may  be  transacted,  should  have  a  right  to  appear  by 
an  agent.  The  concurrence  of  the  Governor  does  not  seem  to  me 
necessary.  It  is  the  business  of  the  people,  that  is  to  be  done  ;  he  is 
not  one  of  them  ;  he  is  himself  an  agent. 

L.  H.     {Hastily.)     Whose  agent  is  he ? 

B.  F.     The  King's. 

L.  H.  No  such  matter.  He  is  one  of  the  corporation  by  the 
province  charter.  No  agent  can  be  appointed  but  by  an  act,  nor  any 
act  pass  without  his  assent.  Besides,  this  proceeding  is  directly  con- 
trary to  express  instructions. 

B.  F.  I  did  not  know  there  had  been  such  instructions.  I  am 
not  concerned  in  any  offence  against  them,  and 

L.  H.  Yes,  your  offering  such  a  paper  to  be  entered  is  an 
offence  against  them.  {Folding  it  up  again  loithoiit  having  read  a 
word  of  it.)  No  such  appointment  shall  be  entered.  When  I  came 
into  the  administration  of  American  affairs  I  found  them  in  great  dis- 
order. By  tny  firmness  they  are  now  something  mended  ;  and,  while 
I  have  the  honour  to  hold  the  seals,  I  shall  continue  the  same  conduct, 
the  same  /7rw«,?j-j-.  I  think  my  duty  to  the  master  I  serve,  and  to 
the  government  of  this  nation  requires  it  of  me.  If  that  conduct  is 
not  approved,  they  may  take  my  office  from  me  when  they  please.  I 
shall  make  them  a  bow,  and  thank  them  ;  I  shall  resign  with  pleas- 
ure. That  gentleman  knows  it  {pointing  to  Mr.  Fownall),  but, 
while  I  continue  in  it,  I  shall  resolutely  persevere  in  the  same  firm- 


igo  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

Mess.  (Spoken  with  great  iuar7nth,  and  turning  pale  in  his  discourse, 
as  if  he  was  angiy  at  sotnething  or  somebody  besides  the  agent,  and  of 
more  consequence  to  himself.) 

B.  F.  {Reachijtg  out  his  hand  for  the  paper,  ivhich  his  lordship 
returned  to  him.)  I  beg  your  lordship's  pardon  for  taking  up  so 
much  of  your  time.  It  is,  I  believe,  of  no  great  importance  whether 
the  appointment  is  acknowledged  or  not,  for  I  have  not  the  least 
conception  that  an  agent  can  at  present  be  of  any  use  to  any  of  the 
colonies.  I  shall  therefore  give  your  lordship  no  further  trouble. 
( IVithdreic'.)" 

So  ends  Franklin's  curious  recital.  "  Firmness," 
even  unto  the  point  of  idiocy  and  tyranny,  was  the 
remedy  which  childish  statesmen  of  the  Hillsborough 
cult  wished  to  employ  in  the  curing  of  colonial  dis- 
content. "  The  Americans,"  they  said  in  effect, 
"  are  a  lot  of  unruly  schoolboys;  we  are  their 
masters,  and  must  whip  them  into  obedience," 

Lord  Hillsborough,  as  a  man  of  narrow  mind  but 
wide  conceit,  looked  upon  the  agent's  own  "  firm- 
ness "  as  rank  impertinence,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
characterise  him,  behind  his  back,  as  a  republican, 

a  factious,  mischievous  fellow,"  and  the  like.  But 
the  doctor  stood  to  his  guns,  and  was  rather  amused, 
when  he  was  dining  in  Dublin  some  time  later  with 
the  Lord  Lieutenant,  to  find  among  the  company 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  America.  His  lordship 
was  most  civil  to  the  philosopher,  and  pressed  him 
to  visit  his  country-place  in  the  north  of  Ireland — 
an  invitation  which  was  gracefully  accepted  for  the 
twofold  reason,  perhaps,  that  the  traveller  knew 
the  value  of  reconciliation,  and  had  tasted,  too,  of 
the  charming  hospitality  dispensed  in  the  home  of 
an  English  or  an  Irish  gentleman.     Before  leavingf 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         191 

Dublin,  however,  Franklin  indulged  in  a  shrewd  bit 
of  diplomacy  by  interviewing  the  patriots  of  the 
Celtic  Parliament,  whom  he  found  disposed  to  be 
very  friendly  to  America.  This  sentiment  he  tried 
to  strengthen,  "  with  the  expectation,"  as  he  says  in 
one  of  his  letters,  "  that  our  growing  weight  might 
in  time  be  thrown  into  their  scale,  and,  by  joining 
our  interests  with  theirs  a  more  equitable  treatment 
from  this  nation  might  be  obtained  for  them  as  well 
as  for  us." 

As  for  my  Lord  of  Hillsborough,  he  proved  an 
admirable  host,  doing  everything  possible  for  the 
comfort  and  entertainment  of  Franklin,  and  discuss- 
ing American  affairs  in  a  spirit  of  unexpected  mod- 
eration. In  short,  to  quote  the  observing  doctor, 
"  he  seemed  extremely  solicitous  to  impress  me, 
and  the  colonies  through  me,  with  a  good  opinion 
of  him.  All  which  I  could  not  but  wonder  at,  know- 
ing that  he  likes  neither  them  nor  me ;  and  I  thought 
it  inexplicable  but  on  the  supposition,  that  he 
apprehended  an  approaching  storm,  and  was  de- 
sirous of  lessening  beforehand  the  number  of  ene- 
mies he  had  so  imprudently  created."  *  It  seems 
hke  a  bit  of  retributive  justice  that  the  storm  which 
soon  broke  over  the  head  of  Hillsborough,  and 
brought  about  his  retirement  from  the  ministry, 
was  indirectly  stirred  up  by  the  agent  himself. 
The  latter,  who  had  ever  been  a  great  believer 
in  the  colonisation  of  Western  America,  was  inter- 
ested in  a  company  formed  to  plant  a  large  settle- 


*  Letter  to  Thomas  Gushing,  dated  London,  January  13,  1772. 


192  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

ment  in  Illinois,  and  in  regard  to  which  Hillsborough 
persuaded  the  Lords  of  Trade  to  adopt  an  adverse 
report.  Franklin  replied  in  writing  to  the  objections 
of  the  Secretary,  who  feared  that  the  proposed 
colony  would  become  independent  of  Great  Britain; 
the  Privy  Council"  took  up  the  matter,  approved  of 
the  scheme,  and  Lord  Hillsborough  forthwith  re- 
signed, much  to  the  delight  of  his  fellow-ministers. 

"  At  length  we  have  got  rid  of  Lord  Hillsborough,  and  Lord  Dart- 
mouth takes  his  place,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  all  the  friends  of 
America,"  writes  Franklin  to  his  son,  remarking  that  "  all  his  brother 
ministers  disliked  him  extremely,  and  wished  for  a  fair  occasion  of 
tripping  up  his  heels  ;  so,  seeing  that  he  made  a  point  of  defeating 
our  scheme,  they  made  another  of  supporting  it,  on  purpose  to  mor- 
tify him,  which  they  knew  his  pride  could  not  bear."  * 

The  doctor  was  not  vindictive,  but  he  would  have 
been  a  little  more  than  human  if  he  had  not  rejoiced 
at  the  defeat  of  a  minister  so  dangerous  to  the  fate 
of  the  colonies.  Perhaps,  too,  he  thought  of  the  in- 
sulting reception  accorded  him  in  trying  to  thank 
his  lordship  for  the  civilities  extended  during  that 
trip  to  Ireland.  Four  visits  did  the  forgiving  Frank- 
lin make  to  the  Earl,  now  returned  to  London  ;  each 
time  he  got  a  curt  "  Not  at  home  "  in  reward.  The 
last  time  was   on   a  levee    day ;    carriages  were   at 


*  Parton  points  out  that  the  dislike  felt  for  Lord  Hillsborough  by 
his  colleagues  does  not  wholly  explain  the  triumph  of  Franklin. 
"  He  had  induced,  it  appears,  three  members  of  the  Privy  Council  to 
become  shareholders  in  the  [Illinois]  company.  So  far  as  the  inter- 
ests of  the  shareholders  were  concerned,  their  triumph  was  a  barren 
one,  since  the  formalities  requisite  to  give  validity  to  the  grant  were 
never  permitted  to  be  completed.  This  may  have  been  Hills- 
borough's work,  after  all." 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         193 

llillsboroug-h's  door,  and  if  ever  a  man  was  at  home 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  America  was  the  indi- 
vidual. As  was  his  wont,  Franklin  drove  up  in  his 
coach,  and  the  driver,  having  alighted,  was  opening 
the  door  of  the  carriage  when  the  porter  ran  out  and 
insolently  rebuked  him  "  for  opening  the  door  be- 
fore he  had  inquired  whether  my  lord  was  at  home." 
Then,  turning  to  the  visitor,  the  servant  said  :  "  My 
lord  is  not  at  home."  The  agent  for  four  great 
American  provinces  sent  away  from  the  house  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  America  by  an  impertinent 
lackey!  No  wonder,  with  such  a  brotherly  spirit 
abroad,  that  the  revolution  was  impending. 

Yet  Franklin  flattered  himself  that  with  the  acces- 
sion of  Lord  Dartmouth  affairs  were  to  take  a  more 
favourable  turn,  and  he  began  to  hope,  in  a  vague 
way,  that  ere  many  months  he  might  be  enabled  to 
close  up  his  official  labours  as  a  prelude  to  returning 
home.  He  was  now  (1772)  sixty-six  years  old,  and 
the  comforts  of  his  new  house  in  Philadelphia,  and 
the  charm  of  a  quiet  old  age,  eloquently  appealed 
to  his  taste  for  a  dignified  idleness.  To  be  sure, 
there  was  much  to  please  him  in  the  whirl  of  Lon- 
don life.  Dining,  wining,  going  to  the  play,  sus- 
taining a  voluminous  correspondence  with  friends 
and  relations,  watching  the  ministry,  attending  to 
the  English  business  of  four  colonies,  and  keeping 
his  pen  well  inked  for  the  defence  of  his  country — 
the  wonder  is  how  he  accomplished  so  much.  His 
literary  services  in  behalf  of  America  included  the 
publishing  of  a  satirical  set  of  "  Rules  for  Reducing 
a  Great  Empire  to  a  Small    One," — a  fling  at  Hills- 


194  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

borough — and  of  a  burlesque  "  Edict  of  the  King  of 
Prussia,"  which  created  a  veritable  sensation,  and 
was  for  the  moment  believed,  if  only  by  a  few 
woolly-heads,  to  be  a  genuine  pronunciamento  from 
the  great  Frederick.  The  King  set  forth,  osten- 
sibly, that  as  "  the  first  German  settlements  made 
in  the  island  of  Britain  were  by  colonies  of  people 
subject  to  our  renowned  ducal  ancestors,  and  drawn 
from  their  dominions,  under  the  conduct  of  Hengist, 
Horsa,  Hella,  Uffa,  Cerdicus,  Ida,  and  others"; 
and  as  "  the  said  colonies  have  flourished  under  the 
protection  of  our  august  house  for  ages  past ;  have 
never  been  emancipated  therefrom ;  and  yet  have 
hitherto  yielded  little  profit  to  the  same  ;  and 
whereas  we  ourself  have  in  the  last  war  fought  for 
and  defended  the  said  colonies  against  the  power  of 
France,"  etc.,  it  therefore  became  "  just  and  ex- 
pedient that  a  revenue  should  be  raised  from  the 
said  colonies  in  Britain,  towards  our  indemnification  ; 
and  that  those  who  are  descendants  of  our  ancient 
subjects,  and  thence  still  owe  us  due  obedience, 
should  contribute  to  the  replenishing  of  our  royal 
coffers."  Thereupon  the  fictitious  King  of  Prussia 
went  on  to  levy  heavy  customs  duties  upon  British 
imports  and  exports,  and  to  lay  iniquitous  restric- 
tions upon  the  internal  trade  and  manufactures  of 
the  island. 

"  And  lastly,"  said  the  "  Edict,"  "  being  willing  further  to  favour 
our  said  colonies  in  Britain,  we  do  hereby  also  ordain  and  command, 
that  all  the  thieves,  highway  and  street  robbers,  house-breakers,  for- 
gerers,  murderers,  s-d-tes,  and  villains  of  every  denomination,  who 
have  forfeited  their  lives  to  the  law  of  Prussia,  but  whom  we,  in  our 
great  clemency,  do  not  think  fit  here  to  hang,  shall  be  emptied  out  of 


1773]         Working  for  the  Colonies         195 

our  gaols  into  the  said  island  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  better  peopling 
of  that  country. 

"  We  flatter  ourselves  that  these  our  royal  regulations  and  com- 
mands will  be  thought  j'tist and  ri-tiso/i(7d/c'  by  our  much  favoured  col- 
onists in  England  ;  the  said  regulations  being  copied  from  their 
statutes  of  loth  and  nth  William  III.,  C.  lo,  5th  George  II.,  C. 
22,  23d  George  II.,  C.  26,  4th  George  I.,  C.  11,  and  from  other 
equitable  laws  made  by  their  Parliament  ;  or  from  instructions  given 
by  their  princes  ;  or  from  resolutions  of  both  Houses,  entered  into  for 
the  good  government  of  their  own  colonies  in  Ireland  and  America. 

"  And  all  persons  in  the  said  Island  are  hereby  cautioned  not 
to  oppose  in  any  wise  the  execution  of  this  our  Edict,  or  any  part 
thereof,  such  opposition  being  high  treason  ;  of  which  all  who  are 
suspected  shall  be  transported  in  fetters  from  Britain  to  Prussia,  there 
to  be  tried  and  executed  according  to  the  Prussian  law." 

This  product  of  Franklin's  imaginative  muse  was, 
as  need  hardly  be  pointed  out,  an  exquisite  satirical 
paraphrase  of  the  selfish  policy  pursued  by  the  Eng- 
lish Government  for  many  years  past  toward  the 
colonies,  and  the  copies  of  the  Ptiblic  Advertiser, 
wherein  it  was  published,  in  apparent  seriousness, 
sold  with  unexpected  rapidity.  Perhaps  the  sharp- 
est hit  of  all  was  in  the  editorial  note  appended  to 
the  pretended  "  Edict  " — "  All  here  think  the  asser- 
tion it  concludes  with,  that  these  regulations  are 
copied  from  acts  of  the  English  Parliament  respect- 
ing their  colonies,  a  very  injurious  one;  it  being 
impossible  to  believe  that  a  people  distinguished  for 
their  love  of  liberty,  a  nation  so  wise,  so  liberal  in 
its  sentiments,  so  just  and  equitable  towards  its 
neighbours,  should,  from  mean  and  injudicious  views 
of  petty  immediate  profit,  treat  its  own  childi"en  in  a 
manner  so  arbitrary  and  tyrannical!  " 

At  first  the  authorship  of  the  "  Edict  "  was  not 


196  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

generally  attributed  to  Franklin,  although  it  is 
curious  that  those  who  knew  his  peculiar  vein  of 
humour,  and  his  talent  for  veiling  satire  under  the 
guise  of  matter-of-fact  statement,  did  not  at  once 
suspect  him.  Several  friends  did,  indeed,  immedi- 
ately light  upon  the  real  writer  of  the  paper,  yet 
the  great  world  of  London,  interested  as  it  was  in 
the  publication,  proved  not  so  quick.  Lord  Mans- 
field shook  his  august  head,  and  remarked  that  the 
"  Edict  "  was  "  very  able  and  very  artful  indeed," 
but  that  it  would  do  mischief  by  giving  a  bad  im- 
pression of  the  measures  of  government  and  encour- 
aging the  colonies  "  in  their  contumacy."  Others 
averred  that  it  was  the  "  keenest  and  severest  " 
piece  which  had  appeared  for  many  a  day ;  a  few,  as 
before  indicated,  actually  fell  into  the  trap,  and 
thought  for  the  nonce  that  Frederick  contemplated 
the  conquest  of  Great  Britain.  Meanwhile  the 
"  King  of  Prussia,"  otherwise  Dr.  Franklin,  laughed 
in  his  sleeve,  and  kept  silent.  He  was  one  of  a 
house-party  at  Lord  le  Despencer's  on  the  morning 
when  the  post  brought  down  into  the  country  the 
number  of  the  Advertiser  containing  the  "  Edict." 
Paul  Whitehead,  "  who  runs  early  through  all  the 
papers,  and  tells  the  company  what  he  finds  re- 
markable," came  bustling  into  the  breakfast-room 
(where  were  the  philosopher,  the  host,  and  the  rest 
of  the  party),  with  the  paper  in  his  agitated  hand. 
"  Here,"  cried  he,  "  here  's  news  for  ye!  Here  's 
the  King  of  Prussia  claiming  a  right  to  this  king- 
dom! "  Everybody  looked  surprised,  including  the 
astute  Franklin.     When  Whitehead  had  read  two 


1773]        Working  for  the  Colonies         197 

or  three  parai;"raphs  of  tlie  exciting  document  one 
of  the  guests  roundly  abused  his  Majesty  of  Prussia 
for  his  impudence,  "  I  dare  say,"  he  said,  "  we 
shall  hear  by  next  post  that  he  is  upon  his  march 
with  one  hundred  thousand  men  to  back  this!" 
Whereupon  Whitehead,  shrewder  than  the  rest  of 
the  company,  began  to  realise  the  situation,  and 
turning  to  the  author,  he  exclaimed:  "  I  '11  be 
hanged  if  this  is  not  some  of  your  American  jokes 
upon  us."  "  The  reading  went  on,  and  ended  with 
abundance  of  laughing,  and  a  general  verdict  that 
it  was  a  fair  hit ;  and  the  piece  was  cut  out  of  the 
paper  and  preserved  in  my  lord's  collection."  *  In 
his  "  Rules  for  Reducing  a  Great  Empire  to  a  Small 
One,"  the  satire  is  even  more  trenchant. 

"  Take  special  care,"  he  tells  all  ministers  who  have  the  manage- 
ment of  extensive  dominions,  "  that  the  provinces  are  never  incorpo- 
rated with  the  mother  country ;  that  they  do  not  enjoy  the  same 
common  rights,  the  same  privileges  in  commerce  ;  and  that  they  are 
governed  by  severer  laws,  all  of  your  enacting,  without  allowing 
them  any  share  in  the  choice  of  the  legislators." 

This  and  the  other  rules  had  about  them  more  sad 
truth  than  burlesque,  and  served  better  than  a  thous- 
and pages  of  commonplace  complaint  to  accentuate 
the  blundering  and  pig-headedness  of  successive 
English  ministries  in  their  dealings  toward  Amer- 
ica. Had  Franklin  done  nothing  else  for  the  colo- 
nies than  to  write  the  "  Rules  "  and  the  "  Edict," 
his  name  would  have  deserved  a  place  on  the  scroll 
of   American  patriotism.      No  words  of  his  could 

*  This  episode  is  described  by  Franklin  in  a  letter  to  his  son 
dated  October  6,  1773. 


198  Benjamin  Franklin  [1766- 

avert  the  inevitable,  yet  happy  the  cause  which 
possessed  so  acute  a  champion. 

Anxiously  did  this  champion  await  the  mails  from 
home  as  they  came  in  slowly  and  irregularly ;  eagerly 
did  he  digest  the  news  from  Massachusetts — indom- 
itable, defiant  Massachusetts.  How  had  events 
shaped  themselves  in  Boston  since  the  fatal  March 
evening  of  1770  when  the  presence  there  of  British 
regiments  led  to  the  conflict  with  the  populace,  and 
the  killing  and  wounding  of  some  citizens  ?  In  the 
following  April  the  duties  imposed  by  the  Town- 
shend  bill,  saving  those  on  tea,  were  repealed ; 
wdiereupon  it  was  agreed  that  no  tea  should  be  im- 
ported ;  then  came  the  constitutional  wrangles  be- 
tween the  patriots  and  Governor  Hutchinson,  that 
staunch  defender  of  English  so-called  prerogative, 
and  finally  the  holding  of  a  town  meeting  (October, 
1772)  to  protest  against  the  dangerous,  liberty- 
subverting  policy  whereby  the  provincial  judges  now 
received  their  salaries  direct  from  the  crown,  and 
were  removable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  King.  From 
this  gathering  dated  the  formation  of  the  famous 

Committee  of  Correspondence."  The  committee 
was  organised  to  state  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  and 
the  rights  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts  in  particu- 
lar, "  as  men,  as  Christians,  and  as  subjects";  it 
helped  materially  to  establish  communication  be- 
tween the  several  provinces ;  and  it  gave  impetus  to 
the  plan  of  colonial  union.*  By  the  autumn  of  1773 
the  agitation  against  the  importation,  by  the   East 

*  See  "  The  Revolution  Impending,"  as  treated  by  Mellen  Cham- 
berlain in  vol.  vi.  of  the  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America. 


1773] 


Working  for  the  Colonies 


199 


India  Company,  of  the  taxable  tea  had  assumed 
formidable  shape,  and  on  a  winter's  evening  toward 
the  end  of  the  same  troubled  year  occurred  that 
little  "  tea-party  "  presided  over  by  the  historic 
Bostonians  who,  masquerading  as  Indians,  threw 
into  the  waters  of  the  harbour  eighteen  thousand 
pounds'  worth  of  the  fragrant  commodity. 

By  this  time  Franklin  had  entered  upon  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  episodes  of  his  life;  and  in  a 
few  days  he  was  to  become  the  central  figure  of  a 
little  drama  which  might  be  taken  as  a  prelude  to 
the  far  greater  drama  of  the  Revolution.  For  such 
a  scene  we  will  appropriate  a  new  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


A   MAN   OF   LETTERS 


1 773- 1 774 


fg^^w-w-^^^g 


E  now  come  to  what  may  be  styled  the 
most  sensational  incident  of  Frank- 
lin's multi-coloured  life — an  incident 
wherein  his  wondrous  calmness  and 
self-possession  (qualities  all  the  more 
strikin^j  because  invested  in  a  man  of  positive  char- 
acter and  human  personality)  stand  out  in  noble  re- 
lief to  the  meanness  and  party  passion  that  brought 
them  into  play.  Many  a  victim  so  pursued  by 
calumny  might  have  succumbed  to  what  was  nothing 
more  or  less  than  a  wave  of  political  spite  and  little- 
ness; it  remained  for  the  hero  of  our  biography  to 
emerge  triumphant  and  find,  in  the  sober  judgment 
of  history,  as  well  as  in  the  verdict  of  his  countr}'-- 
men,  a  vindication  and  reward.  It  is  the  affair  of 
the  Hutchinson  letters  and  the  Privy  Council  ordeal 
which  we  are  now  to  briefly  narrate. 

In  the  course  of  an  animated  conversation  with  a 
gentleman    of   character    and    distinction  "  *    (a 

*  So  Franklin  characterises  the  mysterious  unknown  in  his  Account 
o^'  the  Transactions  Relatuig  to  Governor  Hutchinson's  Letters, 

20Q 


1774J  "  A  Man  of  Letters  "  201 

gentleman  whose  identity  remains  a  mystery  to  the 
present  day),  Frankhn  had  complained,  not  without 
a  proper  resentment,  of  the  sending  of  British  troops 
to  Boston,  and  of  the  general  treatment  of  the 
Americans  by  the  home  government.  It  was  a 
proof,  he  said,  that  England  no  longer  had  a  paren- 
tal regard  for  her  children  across  the  water.  Where- 
upon the  aforesaid  "  gentleman  of  character  and 
distinction  "  assured  the  agent,  much  to  the  latter's 
surprise,  that  not  only  the  measures  he  particularly 
censured  so  warmly,  but  all  the  other  grievances 
complained  of,  took  their  rise,  not  from  the  govern- 
ment, but  "  were  projected,  proposed  to  administra- 
tion, solicited,  and  obtained  by  some  of  the  most 
respectable  among  the  Americans  themselves,  as 
necessary  measures  for  the  welfare  of  that  country." 
This  was  news  to  Franklin,  who  naturally  asked  for 
proofs,  if  proofs  there  were,  to  substantiate  so  radi- 
cal an  assertion.  A  few  days  later  the  "  gentleman 
of  character  and  distinction  "  called  on  his  friend 
and  produced  a  series  of  thirteen  letters,  six  of  which 
had  been  written  by  Thomas  Hutchinson,  when 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massachusetts  (he  was  now 
Governor),  and  four  by  Andrew  Oliver,  now  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of  that  province.  That  their  ad- 
dresses were  destroyed  made  little  or  no  matter,  for 
although  it  was  understood  that  they  were  originally 
directed  to  William  Whately,  a  lately  deceased 
member  of  Parliament  and  one-time  secretary  to 
George  Grenville,  the  letters  were  of  a  public  rather 
than  a  private  nature,  and  had  been  destined,  evi- 
dently^  for  extensive  circulation  in  ministerial  quar- 


202  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

ters.  To  read  them,  therefore,  was  in  nowise  to 
infringe  on  the  rights  of  bona  fide  personal  corre- 
spondence, and  so  the  American  had  no  scruple  in 
making  himself  master  of  their  unusual  contents. 

To  say  that  he  was  amazed  at  what  he  found  in 
them  is  to  express  the  situation  mildly.  For  the 
letters  were  fervid  appeals  to  the  English  Govern- 
ment to  inaugurate  in  Massachusetts  just  that  policy 
of  foolish  oppression  which  had  created  such  a  sea 
of  trouble,  and  which  now  threatened  to  separate 
forever  the  parent  country  and  America.  Those 
eyes  of  Franklin,  usually  so  tranquil,  must  have 
glistened  with  indignation,  as  he  read  one  epistle 
after  another.  "  There  must  be  an  abridgement  of 
what  are  called  English  liberties,"  is  the  way  in 
which  Hutchinson  advises  the  ministry  (under  date 
of  January  20,  1769)  to  repress  the  independent 
spirit  of  the  Bostonians,  and  he  adds,  grimly:  "  I 
doubt  whether  it  is  possible  to  project  a  system  of 
government  in  which  a  colony  three  thousand  miles 
distant  from  the  parent  state  shall  enjoy  all  the 
liberty  of  the  parent  state."  All  that  he  says,  in- 
deed, indicates  a  desire  to  coerce  Massachusetts  into 
the  position  of  a  dependency,  ruled  by  an  iron  hand 
stretching  from  across  the  Atlantic — a  suggestion 
which  unhappily  fit  in  only  too  well  with  the  ideas 
of  George  III.  and  his  satellites  in  Parliament. 
Andrew  Oliver  goes,  if  anything,  even  further  in 
illiberal  sentiment,  although  he,  like  Hutchinson,  is 
a  native  of  the  colony  which  learns  to  hate  him. 
He  harps  on  the  "  effectual  support  "  which  govern- 
ment needs  in  Boston ;  speaks  of  the  patriots  as  in- 


1774]  "  A  Man  of  Letters  "  203 

cendiaries  ("  If  there  will  be  no  way  to  take  off  the 
original  incendiaries,  they  will  continue  to  instill 
their  poison  into  the  minds  of  the  people,  through 
the  vehicle  of  the  Boston  Gazette");  suggests  the 
formation  of  an  Order  of  Patricians,  and  otherwise 
seems  anxious  to  stamp  out  popular  rule  in  the  pro- 
vince, and  to  substitute  therefor  a  half-military,  half- 
aristocratic  administration.  Another  contributor 
to  the  famous  set  of  letters  is  Charles  Paxton,  Com- 
missioner of  Customs  at  Boston,  who  writes  in  June, 
1768,  under  the  influence  of  a  great  fright  due  to  an 
outburst  of  popular  indignation,  "  Unless  we  have 
immediately  two  or  three  regiments,  't  is  the  opinion 
of  all  the  friends  of  Government  that  Boston  will  be 
in  open  rebellion." 

Franklin  looked  upon  the  writing  of  such  letters 
as  outrageous,  yet  he  felt  that  if  the  Americans 
could  be  brought  to  believe  that  the  repressive  meas- 
ures taken  in  Boston  were  due  rather  to  hints  from 
that  place  than  to  English  initiative,  the  animosity 
toward  Britain  might  be  lessened  materially. 

"  Though  astonished,"  he  relates,  "  I  could  not  but  confess  myself 
convinced,  and  I  was  ready,  as  he  [the  before-mentioned  'gentleman 
of  character  and  distinction  ']  desired,  to  convince  my  countrymen  ; 
for  I  saw,  I  felt  indeed  by  its  effect  upon  myself,  the  tendency  it 
must  have  towards  a  reconciliation,  which  for  the  common  good  I 
earnestly  wished  ;  it  appeared,  moreover,  my  duty  to  give  my  con- 
stituents intelligence  of  such  importance  to  their  affairs  ;  but  there 
was  some  difficulty,  as  this  gentleman  would  not  permit  copies  to  be 
taken  of  the  letters  ;  and,  if  that  could  have  been  done,  the  authen- 
ticity of  those  copies  might  have  been  doubted  and  disputed.  My 
simple  account  of  them,  as  papers  I  had  seen,  would  have  been  still 
less  certain  ;  I  therefore  wished  to  have  the  use  of  the  originals  for 
that  purpose,  which  I  at  length  obtained,  on  these  express  condi- 


204  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

tions  :  that  they  should  not  be  printed  ;  that  no  copies  should  be 
taken  of  them  ;  that  they  should  be  shown  only  to  a  few  of  the  lead- 
ing people  of  the  government  ;  and   that  they  should   be  carefully 

returned." 

The  letters  were  quickly  on  their  way  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence  of  the  Massachusetts 
Assembly.  When  they  arrived,  and  were  handed 
about  among  the  chosen  few,  the  contempt  already 
felt  for  Governor  Hutchinson — a  man,  by  the  way, 
whose  abilities  were  worthy  of  a  more  patriotic 
cause — increased  a  hundred-fold.  As  soon  as  the 
Assembly  met,  in  the  summer  of  1773,  the  temper 
of  the  legislature  was  forcibly  shown  by  the  passing  of 
a  long  series  of  resolutions  aimed  against  the  authors 
of  the  correspondence,  and  by  the  adoption  of  a  peti- 
tion to  the  King  asking  for  the  removal  from  office 
of  Hutchinson  and  his  Lieutenant-Governor,  the 
crawling  Oliver.*  In  due  time  the  petition  reached 
Franklin,  who  sent  it  off  post-haste  to  Lord  Dart- 
mouth, with  a  brief  diplomatic  note  of  explanation, 
wherein  he  assured  his  lordship  that  there  existed 
in  Massachusetts  a  sincere  disposition  to  be  on  good 
terms  with  England.  The  Assembly,  he  said,  had 
declared  their  desire  "  only  to  be  put  into  the  situ- 
ation they  were  in  before  the  Stamp  Act.  TJiey 
aim  at  no  novelties. ' '  There  was  significance  in  the 
sentence  last  quoted,  and  the  agent  did  well  to  put 

*  To  the  upholders  of  the  English  "  prerogative"  such  action  on 
the  part  of  the  Assembly  must  have  seemed  nothing  short  of  sacri- 
lege. How  the  Tory  bosom  of  burly  Dr.  Johnson  must  have  filled 
with  rage  when  he  read  of  it  ! — the  same  Johnson  who  once  said  of 
the  Americans  :  "  They  are  a  race  of  convicts,  and  ought  to  be  thank- 
ful for  anything  we  allow  them  short  of  hanging." 


1774]  "  A  Man  of  Letters  "  205 

it  in  italics.  He  might  be  trusted  for  never  missing 
a  point,  even  if  that  point — to  be  paradoxical — was 
nothing  more  than  an  italic  line.  Several  days  later 
came  a  pretty  reply  from  the  noble  Earl.  He  would 
place  the  petition  before  the  King  the  next  time  he 
should  be  admitted  to  the  royal  presence,  and  he 
wrote,  right  genially : 

'*  I  cannot  help  expressing  to  you  the  pleasure  it  gives  me  to  hear, 
that  a  sincere  disposition  prevails  in  the  people  of  that  province 
[Massachusetts]  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  mother  country,  and 
my  earnest  hope  that  the  time  is  at  no  great  distance  when  every 
ground  of  uneasiness  will  cease,  and  the  most  perfect  tranquillity 
and  happiness  be  restored  to  the  breasts  of  that  people." 

It  was  late  in  the  summer  of  1773  when  this  polite 
correspondence  passed  between  Franklin  and  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  America,  and  one  might  have 
been  warranted  in  supposing  that  something  would 
be  done  to  relieve  the  province  of  Massachusetts  of 
its  hated  chief  magistrate.  A  peaceful  solution  of 
all  the  difficulties  might  be  read,  presumably,  in  the 
political  horoscope.  In  reality,  however,  the  horo- 
scope had  nothing  so  propitious  to  promise;  neither 
the  King  nor  the  ministry  as  a  whole  had  any  de- 
sire to  punish  such  staunch  defenders  of  royal  claims 
as  Hutchinson  and  his  coadjutor;  it  would  not  be 
long  ere  the  atmosphere  of  the  colonial  office  would 
become  surcharged  with  all  manner  of  dangerous 
currents.  Franklin  would  find  the  court  party  cry- 
ing out  against  him  as  an  incendiary,  and  he  must 
write  later  that  "  the  very  action  upon  which  I 
valued  myself,  as  it  appeared  to  me  a  means  of 
lessening  our  differences,  I  was  unlucky  enough  to 


2o6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

find  charged  upon  me,  as  a  wicked  attempt  to  increase 
them. ' '  Well  might  he  add,  ' '  Strange  perversion ! ' ' 
The  first  muttering  of  the  impending  storm  came 
in  the  shape  of  a  duel.  Thomas  Whately,  a  banker, 
and  the  brother  and  executor  of  William  Whately, 
the  Englishman  to  whom  the  letters  of  Hutchinson 
et  al  wcxQ  ostensibly  addressed,  intimated  that  John 
Temple,  a  one-time  colonial  lieutenant-governor, 
had  stolen  the  documents.  Temple  vigorously 
denied  the  accusation ;  the  scandal  worked  its  way 
into  the  newspapers,  and  as  the  all-important  letters 
had  by  this  time  mysteriously  appeared  in  print  on 
both  sides  of  the  water,  the  matter  furnished  food 
for  gossip  to  many  a  staid  old  Londoner.  The 
banker  did  not  directly  charge  Temple  with  the 
theft,  but  his  public  statement  was  enough  to  make 
an  innocent  man  burn  with  anger.  Mr.  Temple,  he 
explained,  had  been  allowed  to  go  over  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  deceased  Whately,  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  certain  letters  to  which  he  was  legitimately 
entitled,  and  had  thus  enjoyed  free  access  to  the 
whole  mass  of  writing  which  made  up  the  literary 
remains,  as  it  were,  of  the  dead  Grenvillian. 

"I  made  no  scruple  to  lay  before  him,  and  occasionally  during  his 
visit  to  leave  with  him,  several  parcels  of  letters  from  my  late  broth- 
er's correspondents  in  America,  in  the  exact  state  in  which  they  had 
come  into  my  possession  ;  some  regularly  sorted,  and  some  promiscu- 
ously tied  together  ;  and  some  of  them  were  from  Mr.  Temple  him- 
self and  his  brother,  and  from  Governor  Hutchinson,  Mr.  Oliver,  and 
others  ;  and,  during  the  intervals  that  I  was  in  the  room  with  Mr. 
Temple,  we  did  together  cast  our  eyes  on  one  or  two  letters  of  Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson,  and  I  believe  one  or  two  other  correspondents  of 
my  late  brother." 


1774]  '*  A  Man  of  Letters  "  207 

To  this  impeachment,  the  more  contemptible  be- 
cause so  indirect,  and  yet  so  calculated  to  prejudice 
the  town,  Temple  replied  by  pointing  out,  very 
justly,  that  Thomas  Whately  had  no  knowledge 
that  the  compromising  letters  were  in  William 
Whately 's  possession  at  the  time  of  the  latter' s 
death.  No  one  could  have  read  this  verbal  war 
with  keener  interest  than  did  Franklin — he  who  knew 
who  had  procured  the  letters,  and  who  guarded  the 
secret  so  admirably  that  such  it  will,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, ever  remain.  He  kept  silence,  however,  for, 
as  he  tells  us,  he  thought  the  altercation  would  end, 
"  as  other  newspaper  controversies  usually  do,  when 
the  parties  and  the  public  should  be  tired  of  them." 
— "  I  had  not  the  gift  of  prophecy;  I  could  not  fore- 
see that  the  gentlemen  would  fight." 

But  fight  the  two  gentlemen  did,  very  early  on  a 
cold  December  morning.  Arthur  Lee,  who  was 
then  in  England  studying  law,  and  holding  the  posi- 
tion of  "  substitute  "  for  Franklin  as  agent  for  the 
Massachusetts  Assembly,  has  left  us  a  record  of  the 
encounter,  in  which  he  himself  was  interested. 

"  Mr.  Temple  determined  to  send  Mr.  Whately  a  challenge.  Mr. 
Izard  *  bore  it,  and  offered  to  be  his  second.  Mr.  Whately  accepted 
the  meeting,  but  refused  to  have  a  second.  Four  o'clock,  in  the 
ring  at  Hyde  Park,  was  the  appointment.  Mr.  Izard  and  myself 
went  to  the  park  in  his  carriage  to  attend  the  issue.  On  our  way  to 
the  ring  our  attention  was  drawn  to  another  quarter,  by  the  report  of 
pistols.  Thither  we  went  and  met  Mr.  Whately  coming  from  the 
field  of  action,  having  received  a  slight  wound  in  the  breast  and  one 
on  the  shoulder  a  little  behind  ;  both  with  a  sword.  He  made  no 
charge  to  us  of  unfair  play  on  the  part  of  his  antagonist.     Mr.  Izard 

*  Ralph  Izard,  of  South  Carolina. 


2o8  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

offered  his  carriage  to  carry  him  home,  which  he  accepted,  and  Mr. 
Izard  accompanied  him.  I  went  in  quest  of  Mr.  Temple,  and  we 
walked  together  to  Mr.  Izard's  house.  He  informed  me  that  some 
persons  being  at  the  ring  Mr.  Whately  and  he  agreed  to  go  to  a  differ- 
ent part.  Mr.  Whately  had  a  sword  but  no  pistols.  He  lent  him  one 
of  his,  they  fired  without  effect,  and  then  appealed  to  the  sword  ;  at 
which  he  found  his  antagonist  so  little  skilled  that  his  life  was  at  his 
mercy  ;  that  he  wounded  him  slightly  in  order  to  make  him  beg  his 
pardon.  A  whisper,  however,  was  soon  circulated  that  Mr.  Temple 
had  attempted  to  stab  his  opponent  when  down.  To  corroborate 
which,  a  declaration  from  Mr.  Whately  supported  by  the  affidavits 
of  an  alehouse-keeper  and  some  stable-boy  were  published,  affirming 
that  when  Mr.  Whately  fell  on  his  face  the  other  stabbed  him 
behind." * 

Thomas  Whately  was,  in  fact,   a  mean,  despicable 
specimen  of  humanity,  as  we  shall  see  anon  in  his 
treatment  of  Franklin. 
Lee  continues: 

"As  this  business  was  in  fact  political  and  concerned  America,  I 
wrote  a  justification  of  Mr.  Temple,  in  which  I  stated  that  Mr. 
Whately  had  accused  him  on  mere  suspicion  ;  that  he  refused  to  have 
seconds  ;  came  without  pistols  ;  made  no  charge  against  Mr.  Temple 
when  we  met  him,  warm  from  the  encounter,  and  most  likely  to 
have  exclaimed  against  such  treatment ;  neither  did  those  who  had 
parted  the  combatants  and  were  with  him.  say  a  word  of  it.  That 
the  slight  wound  on  the  shoulder,  which  gave  countenance  to  this 
malignant  charge,  might  well  have  happened  from  Mr.  Temple 
being  in  the  act  of  thrusting  when  his  opponent  fell,  and  by  that 
means  unintentionally  touching  him  on  the  shoulder." 

It  may  be  imagined  that  when  affairs  were  left  in 
this  unsatisfactory  shape,  and  a  second  duel  was 
spoken  of,  Dr.  Franklin  should  think  it  high  time  to 
pour  oil  upon  the  troubled  waters.  He  held  the 
key  to  the  mystery  of  the  letters,  and  though  he 

*  Life  of  Arthur  Lee,  LL.D.,  by  Richard  Henry  Lee. 


'774]  "  A  Man  of  Letters  ''  ^09 

could  not  reveal  the  identity  of  the  "  gentleman  of 
character  and  distinction,"  he  must  at  least  vindicate 
the  ill-used  Temple.  Accordingly,  on  Christmas 
Day,  an  appropriate  time  for  a  kind  action,  he  wrote 
to  the  Public  Advertiser  declaring  that  he  alone  was 
the  person  who  obtained  and  transmitted  to  Boston 
the  letters  in  question. 

"  Mr.  W.,"  he  explained,  "  could  not  communicate  them,  because 
they  were  never  in  his  possession  ;  and  for  the  same  reason  they 
could  never  be  taken  from  him  by  Mr.  T.  They  were  not  of  the 
nature  of  private  letters  between  friends.  They  were  written  by 
public  officers  to  persons  in  public  stations,  on  public  affairs,  and  in- 
tended to  procure  public  measures  ;  they  were  therefore  handed  to 
other  public  persons,  who  might  be  influenced  by  them  to  produce 
these  measures.  Their  tendency  was  to  incense  the  mother-country 
against  her  colonies,  and,  by  the  steps  recommended,  to  widen  the 
breach  ;  which  they  effected.  The  chief  caution  expressed  with  re- 
gard to  privacy  was,  to  keep  their  contents  from  the  colony  agents, 
who,  the  writers  apprehended,  might  return  them,  or  copies  of  them, 
to  America.  The  apprehension  was,  it  seems,  well  founded  ;  for 
the  first  agent  who  laid  his  hands  on  them  thought  it  his  duty  to 
transmit  them  to  his  constituents." 

To  which  communication  the  writer  manfully  signed 
himself,  "  B.  Franklin,  Agent  for  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  Massachusetts  Bay." 

The  agent  had  thus  spoken  for  himself,  as  well  as 
for  Temple,  but  little  good  would  the  justification 
do  him  so  far  as  those  in  power  were  concerned. 
The  temper  of  the  King  and  government  was  now 
for  stern  dealing  with  America;  there  were  to  be  no 
concessions,  and  no  punishment  of  Hutchinson  and 
Oliver;  on  the  contrary,  the  provincials  at  large  were 
to  be  regarded  as  a  lot  of  traitors,  with  the  pestifer- 


2IO  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

ous  Franklin  (whose  transmission  to  Boston  of  the 
Hutchinson  letters  was  considered  an  unforgivable 
crime)  as  the  chief  conspirator.  And  as  he  was  in 
London,  an  easy  prey  to  official  abuse  and  ill-usage, 
why  not  let  him  suffer  in  propria  persona  for  the  sins 
of  his  countrymen,  as  well  as  for  those  upon  his  own 
head  ?  We  shall  see  how  the  cabal  against  him  and 
his  was  prosecuted. 

.On  a  Saturday  in  January,  1774,  Franklin  received 
word  that  the  Privy  Council  would  meet  on  the 
Tuesday  following,  to  consider  the  petition  of  the 
Massachusetts  Assembly  in  r^the  removal  of  Hutch- 
inson and  Oliver.  It  was  a  short  notice,  in  all 
conscience,  and  the  doctor  at  once  bestirred  himself. 
Should  he  employ  other  counsel  than  Mr.  Bollan  ? 
(agent  for  the  Council  of  Massachusetts)  was  the 
question,  and  he  proceeded  to  ask  that  gentleman. 
Mr.  Bollan  thought  it  not  advisable  to  employ  other 
counsel.  "  He  had  sometimes  done  it  in  colony 
cases,  and  found  lawyers  of  little  service.  Those 
who  are  eminent,  and  hope  to  rise  in  their  profes- 
sion, are  unwilling  to  offend  the  court ;  and  its  dis- 
position on  this  occasion  zcas  ivcll  known. "  He  would 
undertake  to  support  the  petition  himself,  in  his 
capacity  as  agent  for  the  Council.  So  far,  so  good. 
But  late  on  Monday  afternoon  Franklin  heard,  to 
his  great  surprise,  that  Israel  Mauduit,  agent  for  the 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, had  obtained  leave  to  bring  counsel  to  the 
Cockpit  the  next  morning,  to  defend  his  clients  be- 
fore their  lordships.  Of  course  it  was  too  late,  by 
this  time,  to  do  anything  in  the  way  of  engaging 


1774]  '*  A  Man  of  Letters"  211 

distinguished  lawyers  in  behalf  of  the  petition,  and 
so  Tuesday  found  Franklin  on  hand  with  no  one  but 
Bollan  to  assist  him. 

The  first  thing  the  lords  of  the  Privy  Council  did 
was  to  refuse  recognition  to  Bollan,  on  the  plea  that 
as  he  did  not  represent  the  Assembly  of  Massachu- 
setts he  had  no  right  to  speak  upon  a  petition  pre- 
sented from  that  body.      It  may  have  been  good  law 
to  decide  against  him,  but  to  raise  the  point  Avas  un- 
generous, and  none  the  less  so  because  it  left  Frank- 
lin to  bear  the  full  brunt  of  defending  the  appeal  to 
the  King.      However,  Bollan  was  duly  extinguished, 
while    the    doctor   manfully    prepared   for  a  battle 
which,  as  he  must  have  suspected,   would  prove  a 
losing   one    for    the   colony — a   battle    wherein    his 
chief  antagonist  was  the  unprincipled  Wedderburn, 
Solicitor-General    for    the    government,    who    was 
present  to  represent  Mauduit,  to  discountenance  the 
cause  of  the  petitioners,  and  to  espouse  the  treachery 
of  Hutchinson  and  Oliver.     It  was' only  with  diffi- 
culty, owing  to  the  opposition  of  Wedderburn,  that 
the  Assembly's  agent  could  induce  the  court  to  ac- 
cept as  evidence  authenticated  copies  of  the  famous 
letters,  but,  having  at  last  accomplished  this,  he  in- 
formed their   lordships  that  he  was  surprised  that 
counsel    should    have   been  employed   against  the 
petition  ;    that   he  apprehended   this  matter  "  was 
rather    a    question    of    civil   or    political    prudence, 
whether  on  the  state  of  the  fact  that  the  governors 
had  lost  all  trust  and  confidence  with  the  people, 
and  become  universally  obnoxious,  it  would  be  for 
the    interest  of  his   Majesty's  service  to    continue 


212  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

them  in  those  stations  in  that  province";  that  he 
conceived  this  "  to  be  a  question  of  which  their  lord- 
ships were  already  perfect  judges,  and  should  receive 
no  assistance  in  it  from  the  arguments  of  counsel  "  ; 
but,  that  if  counsel  were  to  be  heard  on  the  other 
side,  he  must  request  leave  to  bring  someone  to 
represent  the  Assembly. 

Whereupon  Mr.  Mauduit  was  asked  if  he  would 
waive  the  leave  he  had  to  appear  by  counsel,  so  that 
their  lordships  might  proceed  immediately  to  con- 
sider the  petition.  The  fact  was,  that  the  Privy 
Council,  having  made  up  its  mind  beforehand,  was 
probably  anxious  to  go  on  with  the  sitting,  and  to 
make  its  report.  But  Mauduit  was  not  to  be 
shunted  off  in  this  wise.  "  I  know  well  Dr.  Frank- 
lin's abilities,"  he  shrewdly  informed  the  court, 
"  and  wish  to  put  the  defence  of  my  friends  on  a 
parity  with  the  attack;  he  will  not  therefore  wonder 
that  I  choose  to  appear  before  your  lordships  with 
the  assistance  of  counsel."  It  was  finally  agreed, 
therefore,  that  the  hearing  should  be  adjourned  until 
the  29th  of  January.  The  implacable  Wedderburn, 
who  saw  in  the  case  a  glorious  opportunity  to  bask 
in  the  sunshine  of  royal  and  governmental  favour, 
announced  that  he  would  reserve  to  himself  the 
right  of  asking  at  that  time  how  the  Assembly  came 
into  possession  of  the  letters,  through  what  hands 
and  by  what  means  they  were  procured. 

"Certainly."  replied  Lord  Chief-Justice  De  Grey  with  austerity, 
"  and  to  whom  directed  ;  for  the  perfect  understanding  of  the  pas- 
sages may  depend  on  that  and  other  such  circumstances.  We  can 
receive  no  charge  against  a  man  founded  on  letters  directed  to  no- 


1774]  "  A  Man  of  Letters  "  213 

body,  and  perhaps  received  by  nobody.  The  laws  of  this  country 
have  no  such  practice." 

Then,  as  he  was  quietly  puttiiif^  up  his  papers, 
Franklin  was  asked  by  the  Lord  President  whether 
he  intended  to  answer  such  questions.  "In  that, 
1  shall  take  counsel,"  was  the  prudent  reply.'" 

Franklin  began  at  once  to  get  ready  for  the  strug- 
gle by  asking  the  advdce  of  the  great  Mr.  Dunning, 
a  barrister  of  remarkable  abilities,  but  with  a  voice, 
presence,  and  delivery  singularly  unprepossessing. 
Must  he  answer  the  most  important  question  threat- 
ened by  Wedderburn  ^ — -the  question  as  to  who 
originally  put  the  Hutchinson  letters  into  the  hands 
of  the  agent  ?  No,  said  Dunning;  the  agent  could 
not  be  forced  so  to  do.  The  American  breathed 
more  easily.  He  did  not  expect  to  meet  with  any 
success  in  behalf  of  the  petition,  but  no  stone  should 
be  left  unturned  whereby  he  could  place  the  cause 
of  Massachusetts  in  the  proper  light,  even  if  that 
light  were  not  to  penetrate  the  wilfully  closed  eyes 
of  obsequious  courtiers.  Soon  Arthur  Lee  came  up 
from  Bath  to  help  his  chief ;  Mr.  Dunning  and  John 
Lee,  another  able  lawyer,  were  engaged  to  appear 
before  the  Council;  a  line  of  policy  was  mapped  out. 
The  doctor  also  kept  well  informed  as  to  the  rumours 
that  were  floating  about,  and  had  many  reasons  to 
think  that  he  was  in  the  worst  possible  odour  with 
the  ministry  and  the  friends  of  royalty.  It  was 
even  hinted  that  there  was  a  design  to  arrest  him, 
to  seize  his  papers,  and  to  pack  him  off  to  Newgate, 

*  See  Franklin's  letter  to  Thomas  Gushing,  of  Boston,  under  date 
of  February  15,  1774. 


214  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

there  to  meditate,  no  doubt,  on  his  audacity  and 
ingratitude.  He  was  to  be  deprived  of  his  post- 
master-generalship ;  the  petition  was  to  be  scornfully- 
rejected  ;  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  would  be 
censured,  and  the  Governor  would  be  picked  out  for 
well-deserved  honours.      Such  were  the  reports. 

While  Franklin  was  calmly  listening  to  this  omin- 
ous gossip,  and  making  ready  his  brief,  Thomas 
Whately  suddenly  clapped  upon  his  back  a  disagree- 
able Chancery  suit.  The  basis  of  action  was  ludi- 
crous enough,  it  being  falsely  contended  that  the 
doctor  had  caused  the  Hutchinson-Oliver  corre- 
spondence to  be  printed ;  that  he  had  disposed  of 
great  numbers  of  the  copies  thereof;  and  that  he 
should  therefore  be  compelled  to  render  an  account 
for  the  profits  of  the  aforesaid  printing  to  the  injured 
plaintiff,  as  administrator  of  the  estate  of  the  late 
William  Whately.  The  suit  was  the  result  of  politi- 
cal animus  rather  than  of  personal  spite,  but  viewed 
in  any  light  it  bore  ample  testimony  to  the  mean- 
ness of  the  living  Whately,  who  was  under  deep  ob- 
ligation to  Franklin.  The  philosopher  had  helped 
him  to  reclaim  some  valuable  lands  in  Pennsylvania, 
purchased  years  before  by  Whately's  grandfather. 
Here  was  an  exhibition  of  the  grandson's  gratitude. 
Franklin  drew  up  the  necessary  defence  to  the  suit 
(a  suit  which  came  to  naught,  it  is  pleasant  to  add), 
and  he  was  soon  able  to  trace  the  motive  of  this 
attack  upon  him  to  its  proper  source.  For  he 
writes : 

"  It  was  about  this  time  become  evident,  that  all  thoughts  of  recon- 
ciliation with  the  colony  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  by  attention  to 


1 774]  * « A  Man  of  Letters  "  215 

their  petitions,  and  a  redress  of  their  grievances,  was  laid  aside  ;  that 
severity  was  resolved;  and  that  the  decrying  and  vilifying  the  people 
of  that  country,  and  me  their  agent,  among  the  rest,  was  quite  a  court 
measure.  It  was  the  Ion  with  all  the  ministerial  folks  to  abuse  them 
and  me,  in  every  company  and  in  every  newspaper  ,  .  .  but  the 
attack  from  Mr.  Whately  was,  I  own,  a  surprise  to  me  ;  under  the 
above-mentioned  circumstances  of  obligation,  and  without  the  slightest 
provocation,  I  could  not  have  imagined  any  man  base  enough  to  com- 
mence, of  /lis  o~cvn  motion,  such  a  vexatious  suit  against  me.  But  a 
little  accidental  information  served  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  busi- 
ness. An  acquaintance*  calling  on  me,  after  having  been  at  the 
Treasury,  show  ed  me  what  he  styled  a /r,7(j'  t/iing,  for  a  friend  of  his ; 
it  was  an  order  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  payable  to  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson,  said  to  be  one  half  of  his  yearly  pension,  and  drawn 
by  the  secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  this  same  Mr.  Whately.  I  then 
considered  him  as  a  banker  to  the  Treasury  for  the  pension  money, 
and  thence  as  having  an  interested  connexion  with  the  administration, 
that  might  induce  him  to  act  by  direction  of  others  in  harassing  me 
with  this  suit  ;  which  gave  me  if  possible  a  still  meaner  opinion  of 
him,  than  if  he  had  done  it  of  his  own  accord." 

As  the  time  approached  for  the  adjourned  hearing 
before  the  Privy  Council,  it  began  to  be  pretty  well 
understood  that  .something  highly  entertaining,  if 
not  actually  startling,  was  to  take  place.  England 
was  to  have  her  innings  against  America,  and  it  was 
playfully  whispered  among  the  inner  governmental 
circles  that  the  fiery  Wedderburn  had  a  pretty  rod 
in  pickle  for  that  troublesome,  rebellious  Dr.  Frank- 
lin. There  were  worthy  gentlemen,  therefore,  who 
looked  forward  to  the  coming  examination  as  they 
might  have  anticipated  a  comedy  at  Drury  Lane; 
all  thought  of  statecraft  or  patriotism  was  sunk  in 
the  idea  that  the  Lords  of  the  Council  were  prepar- 
ing an  amusing  production  of  spectacular  adjuncts, 

*  William  Strahan,  M.  P.,  the  King's  printer. 


2i6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

with  the  Solicitor-General  as  the  leading  actor — call 
him  comedian,  hero,  heavy  villain,  or  what  not — in 
the  curious  performance.  Nor  is  it  strange,  there- 
fore, that  when  the  ardently  expected  morning 
arrived  the  Cockpit  was  crowded  with  a  throng 
anxious  to  witness  the  real  business  of  the  day, 
which  would  be  the  impaling  of  Franklin  rather  than 
the  respectful  consideration  of  a  respectful  petition. 
That  day  proved  one  of  the  least  creditable  in  the 
long  history  of  a  nation  to  which  one  is  accustomed 
to  look  for  great  things,  not  for  littleness. 

When  the  examination  began  the  room  presented 
a  brilliant  spectacle,  with  its  array  of  handsomely 
dressed  Privy  Councillors,  who  were  seated  at  a  long 
table,  and  who  had  for  a  background  all  the  tip- 
toeing spectators  fortunate  enough  to  penetrate  the 
not  over-large  apartment.  Dr.  Franklin,  the  in- 
tended victim,  stood  near  the  fireplace,  gazing 
stoically  upon  his  enemies.  He  was  clad  in  a  full- 
dress  suit  of  spotted  Manchester  velvet  (that  historic 
suit  which  he  was  to  don  again  on  a  more  propitious 
occasion),  and  his  head  was  adorned  by  an  old- 
fashioned,  flowing  wig.  There  he  remained  through- 
out the  ordeal,  "  conspicuously  erect,"  without 
betraying  a  telltale  movement  in  any  part  of  his 
body.  "  The  muscles  of  his  face  had  been  pre- 
viously composed,  so  as  to  afford  a  placid,  tranquil 
expression  of  countenance."  The  man  was  waiting 
to  play  his  part — one  of  immobility  and  seeming 
indifference  to  the  taunts  of  prejudice. 

After  the  preliminaries  of  the  hearing  had  been  dis- 
posed of  (the  petition  being  read,  and  the  copies  of 


I774J  '*  A  Man  of  Letters  "  217 

the  letters  admitted  as  evidence),  it  was  remarked 
that  W'edderburn  asked  none  of  the  threatened  ques- 
tions. He  was  reserving  his  ammunition  for  more 
interesting  game.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  counsel 
for  the  Assembly,  Messrs.  Dunning  and  John  Lee, 
spoke  of  the  discontent  of  the  Bostonians,  "  and  ac- 
quitted themselves,"  as  Franklin  narrates,  "  very 
handsomely;  only  Mr.  Dunning,  having  a  disorder 
on  his  lungs  that  weakened  his  voice  exceedingly, 
was  not  so  perfectly  heard  as  one  could  have 
wished."  That  defect,  however,  made  no  manner 
of  difference;  their  lordships  had  come  to  hear  the 
Solicitor-General,  not  counsel  for  the  "  defence." 
And  the  Solicitor-General  had  primed  himself  to 
please  their  lordships. 

Wedderburn,  upon  rising  to  address  them, 
launched  into  a  glowing  eulogy  of  Governor  Hutch- 
inson, whom  he  painted  in  the  colours  of  a  suffer- 
ing hero,  oppressed  by  turbulent,  unfeeling  men. 
But  praise  of  Hutchinson  was  merely  the  prelude  to 
his  harangue ;  he  soon  branched  off  into  the  most 
outrageous  abuse  of  Franklin,  "  who  stood  there 
the  butt  of  his  invective  ribaldry  for  near  an  hour, 
not  a  single  lord  adverting  to  the  impropriety  and 
indecency  of  treating  a  public  messenger  in  so 
ignominious  a  manner." 

"  How  these  letters  came  into  the  possession  of  anyone  but  the  right 
owners,"  Wedderburn  went  on,  "  is  a  mystery  for  Dr.  Franklin  to 
explain.  They  who  know  the  affectionate  regard  which  the  Whatelys 
had  for  each  other,  and  the  tender  concern  they  felt  for  the  honour  of 
their  brother's  memory,  as  well  as  their  own,  can  witness  the  distress 
which  this  occasioned.  My  lords,  the  late  Mr.  Whately  was  most 
scrupulously  cautious  about  his  letters.     We  lived  for  many  years  in 


2i8  Benjamin  Franklin  ['773- 

the  strictest  intimacy  [which  may  have  been  true,  for  Wedderhurn 
loved  to  cultivate  men  in  the  confidence  of  ministry],  and  in  all  those 
years  I  never  saw  a  single  letter  written  to  him.  These  letters,  1  be- 
lieve [he  believed  nothing  of  the  sort],  were  in  his  custody  at  his 
death  ;  and  I  as  firmly  believe  that  without  fraud  they  could  not 
have  been  got  out  of  the  custody  of  the  person  whose  hands  they  fell 
into.  His  brothers  little  wanted  this  additional  aggravation  to  the 
loss  of  him.  The  letters,  I  say,  could  not  have  come  to  Dr.  Frank- 
lin by  fair  means.  The  writers  did  not  give  them  to  him  ;  nor  yet 
the  deceased  correspondent,  who  from  our  intimacy  would  otherwise 
have  told  me  of  it.  Nothing,  then,  will  acquit  Dr.  Franklin  of  the 
charge  of  obtaining  them  by  fraudulent  or  corrupt  means,  for  the 
most  malignant  purposes,  unless  he  stole  tliem  from  the  person  who 
stole  them.  This  argument  is  irrefragable.  I  hope,  my  lords,  you 
will  mark  and  brand  the  man,  for  the  honour  of  this  country,  of  Eu- 
rope, and  of  mankind.  Private  correspondence  has  hitherto  been 
held  sacred  in  times  of  the  greatest  party  rage,  not  only  in  politics 
but  religion.  He  has  forfeited  all  the  respect  of  societies  and  of 
men.  Into  what  companies  will  he  hereafter  go  with  an  unembar- 
rassed face,  or  the  honest  intrepidity  of  virtue?  Men  will  watch  him 
with  a  jealous  eye  ;  they  will  hide  their  papers  from  him,  and  lock 
up  their  escritoires.  He  will  henceforth  esteem  it  a  libel  to  be 
called  a  man  of  letters  ;  Homo  Trium  literarutn  J" 

In  classic  Latin  Wedderburn  had  stigmatised 
Franklin  as  a  thief — Fur — "  a  man  of  three  letters." 
Then  he  continued: 

"Yourlordships  know  the  train  of  mischiefs  which  followed.  Wherein 
had  my  late  worthy  friend  or  his  family  offended  Dr.  Franklin,  that 
he  should  first  do  so  great  an  injury  to  the  memory  of  the  dead  brother, 
by  secreting  and  sending  away  his  letters  ;  and  then,  conscious  of  what 
he  had  done,  should  keep  himself  concealed,  till  he  had  nearly,  very 
nearly,  occasioned  the  murder  of  the  other.  After  the  mischiefs  of 
this  concealment  had  been  left  for  five  months  to  have  their  full  op- 
eration, at  length  comes  out  a  letter,  which  it  is  impossible  to  read 
without  horror  {sic),  expressive  of  the  coolest  and  most  deliberate 
malevolence,     My  lords,  what  poetic  fiction  only  had  penned  for  the 


1774]  ''A  Man  of  Letters  "  219 

breast  of  a  cruel  African,  Dr.  Franklin  has  realised  and  transcribed 
from  his  own.     His,  too,  is  the  language  of  a  Zatiga  :  * 

"  '  Know  then  't  was I. 

/  forged  the  letter, — /  disposed  the  picture, 
/hated,  /despised,  and  /destroy.'  " 

This  was  the  language  to  which  the  venerable 
agent  was  obhged  to  listen  in  philosophical  silence. 
Not  a  feature  of  his  face  moved  ;  not  a  muscle  quiv- 
ered in  angry  response  to  the  insults  heaped  upon 
him.  As  the  speech  grew  more  vindictive,  the 
audience  watched  the  American  even  more  intently 
than  before,  but  his  countenance  might  have  been 
of  wood  for  all  the  feeling  to  be  traced  upon  it. 
Never  had  he  been  so  sublimely  superior  to  the 
"  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune." 

What  made  the  ordeal  the  greater  was  that  the 
Privy  Councillors,  the  very  Councillors  who  should 
have  represented  the  dignity  and  the  majesty  of  the 
crown,  encouraged  the  taunts  of  Wedderburn  by 
loud  laughter  and  applause.  Surely  there  was 
something  "  rotten  in  Denmark,"  or  in  English 
politics,  when  men  of  distinction  could  lend  them- 
selves so  openly  to  such  an  exhibition.  At  the 
sallies  of  Wedderburn's  sarcastic  wit,  says  Dr. 
Priestley,  "  all  the  members  of  the  Council,  the 
President  himself  (Lord  Gower)  not  excepted,  fre- 
quently laughed  outright.  No  person  belonging  to 
the  Council  behaved  with  decent  gravity  except 
Lord  North,  who,  coming  late,  took  his  stand  be- 
hind the  chair  opposite   to  mc."f     Doubtless  the 

*  Wedderburn  was  quoting  from  Dr.  Young's  Revenge. 

f  "  Not  one  of  their  lordships,"  Franklin  writes  to  Thomas  Cush- 


220  Benjamin  Franklin  ['773- 

appreciation  of  flings  like  the  following  was  particu- 
larly keen  on  the  part  of  their  lordships: 


"  A  foreign  ambassador,  when  residing  here,  just  before  the  break- 
ing out  of  a  war,  or  upon  particular  occasions,  may  bribe  a  villain  to 
steal  or  betray  any  state  papers  ;  he  is  under  the  command  of  another 
state,  and  is  not  amenable  to  the  laws  of  the  country  where  he  re- 
sides ;  and  the  secure  exemption  from  punishment  may  induce  a  laxer 
morality.  But  Dr.  Franklin,  whatever  be  may  teach  the  people  of 
Boston,  while  he  is  here,  at  least,  is  a  subject,  and  if  a  subject  injure 
a  subject,  he  is  answerable  to  the  law.  And  the  Court  of  Chancery 
will  not  much  attend  to  his  new  self-created  importance. 

"  The  letters  from  Boston  for  two  years  past  have  intimated  that 
Dr.  Franklin  was  aiming  at  Mr.  Hutchinson's  government.  It  was 
not  easy  before  this  to  give  credit  to  such  surmises.  But  nothing 
surely  but  a  too  eager  attention  to  an  ambition  of  this  sort,  could 
have  betrayed  a  wise  man  into  such  conduct  as  we  have  now  seen. 
Whether  these  surmises  are  true  or  not,  your  lordships  are  much  the 
best  judges.  If  they  should  be  true,  I  hope  that  Mr.  Hutchinson 
will  not  meet  with  the  less  countenance  from  your  lordships  for  his 
rival's  being  his  accuser.  Nor  will  your  lordships,  I  trust,  from 
what  you  have  heard,  advise  the  having  Mr.  Hutchinson  displaced,  in 
order  to  make  room  for  Dr.  Franklin  as  a  successor. 

"  On  the  part  of  Mr.  Hutchinson  and  Mr.  Oliver,  I  am  instructed 
to  assure  your  lordships,"  Wedderburn  hypocritically  concluded, 
"that  they  feel  no  spark  of  resentment,  even  at  the  individuals  who 
have  done  them  this  injustice.  Their  private  letters  breathe  nothing 
but  moderation.  They  are  convinced  that  the  people,  though  misled, 
are  innocent.     If  the  conduct  of  a  few  should  provoke  a  just  indig- 


ing,  "checked  and  recalled  the  orator  to  the  business  before  them, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  a  very  few  excepted,  they  seemed  to  enjoy 
highly  the  entertainment,  and  frequently  burst  out  in  loud  applauses. 
This  part  of  his  speech  was  thought  so  good  that  they  have  since 
printed  it,  in  order  to  defame  me  everywhere,  and  particularly  to  de- 
stroy my  reputation  on  your  side  of  the  water  ;  but  the  grosser  parts 
of  the  abuse  are  omitted,  appearing,  I  suppose,  in  their  own  eyes, 
too  foul  to  be  seen  on  paper,  so  that  the  speech,  compared  to  what 
it  was,  is  now  perfectly  decent." 


1774]  "  A  Man  of  Letters  "  221 

nation,  they  would  be  the  most  forward,  and,  I  trust,  the  most  effi- 
cacious solicitors  to  avert  its  effects,  and  to  excuse  the  men.  They 
love  the  soil,  the  constitution,  the  people  of  New  England  ;  they 
look  with  reverence  to  this  country,  and  with  affection  to  that.  For 
the  sake  of  the  people  they  wish  some  faults  corrected,  anarchy  abol- 
ished, and  government  re-established.  But  these  salutary  ends  they 
wish  to  promote  by  the  gentlest  means,  and  the  abridging  of  no 
liberties  which  a  people  can  possibly  use  to  its  own  advantage.  A 
restraint  from  self-destruction  is  the  only  restraint  they  desire  to  be 
imposed  upon  New  England." 

This  is  not  all  of  the  speech,  but  it  is  enough  to 
indicate  the  nature  of  the  attack.  Delivered,  as  it 
was,  with  much  rhetorical  emphasis,  and  with  an 
assumed  air  of  indignant  sincerity,  it  fell  delightfully 
upon  the  jaded  ears  of  the  Privy  Councillors,  and 
made  of  the  Solicitor-General  a  momentary  hero. 
Not,  of  course,  to  all  the  listeners  was  he  a  hero, 
and  his  malevolent  eloquence  so  fired  the  heart  of 
Dr.  Priestley  with  a  virtuous  contempt  that  the  good 
gentleman  refused  to  speak  to  Wedderburn  at  the 
close  of  the  so-called  examination.  As  for  the 
formal  action  of  the  Privy  Council,  it  was  embodied 
in  a  cut-and-dricd  report  advising  his  Majesty  that 
the  petition  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly  was 
founded  upon  resolutions  "  formed  upon  false  and 
erroneous  allegations,"  being  "  groundless,  vexa- 
tious, and  scandalous;  and  calculated  only  for  the 
seditious  purposes  of  keeping  up  a  spirit  of  clamour 
and  discontent  in  the  said  province."  Franklin 
came  in  for  the  inevitable  censure  {Mr.  Franklin 
the  report  styled  him),  and  the  King  was  finally  told 
that  nothing  had  been  laid  before  the  Councillors 

which  does  or  can,  in  their  opinion;  in  any  man- 


222  Benjamin  Franklin  [1773- 

ner,  or  in  any  degree,  impeach  the  honour,  integrity, 
or  conduct  of  the  said  Governor  or  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor; and  their  lordships  are  humbly  of  opinion, 
that  the  said  petition  ought  to  be  dismissed."  Ac- 
cordingly, and  with  great  pleasure,  George  III.  was 
pleased  to  take  the  advice  of  his  faithful  Council, 
and  did  so  order  that  the  said  petition  be  dismissed 
as  groundless,  vexatious,  scandalous,  etc.,  etc.  The 
Revolution  was  on  the  way. 

The  day  after  the  Privy  Council  farce,  Dr.  Priest- 
ley went  to  breakfast  with  Franklin,  at  the  latter's 
lodgings  in  Craven  Street.  The  philosopher  was 
serene,  as  usual,  and  remarked,  anent  the  outrage- 
ous tirade  of  Wedderburn  :  "  I  have  never  before 
been  so  sensible  of  the  power  of  a  good  conscience; 
for,  if  I  had  not  considered  the  thing  for  which  I 
have  been  so  much  insulted  as  one  of  the  best  ac- 
tions of  my  life,  and  what  I  should  certainly  do 
again  in  the  same  circumstances,  I  should  not  have 
supported  it."  Nor  did  the  insult  end  with  the 
entertainment  of  the  Cockpit.  Within  twenty-four 
hours  Franklin  received  formal  notice  that  his 
Majesty's  Postmaster-General  "  found  it  neces- 
sary "  to  dismiss  him  from  his  office  of  Postmaster- 
General  in  North  America. 

"  The  expression,"  as  the  deposed  official  wrote  to  Thomas  Gushing, 
"  was  well  chosen,  for  in  truth  they  were  tinder  a  necessity  of  doing 
it ;  it  was  not  their  own  inclination  ;  they  had  no  fault  to  find  with 
my  conduct  in  the  office  ;  they  knew  my  merit  in  it,  and  that,  if  it 
was  now  an  office  of  value,  it  had  become  such  chiefly  through  my 
care  and  good  management." 

The  persecution   of  the  great  American  had  now 


1774] 


"A  Man  of  Letters '* 


22^ 


been  accomplished  to  the  satisfaction  of  King 
George  and  his  ministerial  henchmen ;  the  stiff- 
necked  provincials  were  rebuked  in  the  person  of 
their  distinguished  representativ^e.  But  the  gentle- 
men of  government  forgot  that  in  loading  Franklin 
with  abuse  they  had  increased  a  hundred-fold  his  in- 
fluence with  his  own  countrymen.  To  make  a  man 
a  martyr  is  to  make  him  likewise  a  power. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 

1 774-1 776 

AD  "  B,  Franklin,  agent,"  as  he  mod- 
estly described  himself,  packed  up 
his  trunks  during  the  spring  of  1774, 
and  sailed  away  from  the  country 
whose  public  servants  had  used  him 
so  ill,  he  would  have  found  himself,  on  reaching 
home,  the  most  popular  man  in  America.  His 
treatment  by  Wedderburn,  the  hatred  shown  him 
by  the  court  party,  and  the  loss  of  his  postmaster- 
generalship,  served  only  to  endear  the  philosopher 
to  those  who  guarded  so  anxiously  the  threatened 
liberties  of  their  native  land.  What  more  natural, 
therefore,  than  to  return  to  his  own  shores,  and 
there  reap  the  reward  of  his  Titanic,  if  unsuccessful 
labours,  by  playing  the  hero  and  enjoying  the  appro- 
bation and  applause  of  the  colonies  ?  The  prospect 
would  have  held  out  temptations  to  a  statesman  of 
the  selfish,  vainglorious  kind.  But  Franklin  was 
cast  in  a  different  mould:  although  he  had  his  share 
of  vanity,  as  he  was  free  to  confess,  egotism  could 

224 


17/6]        Struggle  for  Independence 


--^D 


not  run  away  with  his  head  or  heart.  His  useful- 
ness as  a  colonial  agent  was  gone  completel)',  now 
that  the  Privy  Council  had  insulted  both  him  and 
those  he  represented ;  yet  for  all  that,  he  reasoned, 
he  might  aid  America  by  staying  in  London  and 
working  indirectly  rather  than  officially.  Despite 
the  clamours  of  government,  to  whom  the  question 
of  provincial  rights  had  become  as  the  red  rag  to  the 
proverbial  bull,  many  Englishmen  took  a  fair-minded 
view  of  the  situation,  and  among  them  were  certain 
members  of  Parliament  with  an  influence  and  kindly 
disposition  which  seemed  worth  the  cultivation. 
There,  for  instance,  was  that  shining  champion  of 
America,  Lord  Chatham  (the  one-time  Mr.  Pitt), 
whose  moral  support  might  mean  volumes,  even 
though  he  happened  to  be  in  opposition  to  the  min- 
istry. Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  Franklin,  still 
hopeful  as  a  schoolboy,  determined  to  stick  to  his 
colours,  and  to  try  the  effect  of  a  little  quiet  diplo- 
macy. It  was  about  this  time  that  he  devised  the 
famous  emblematic  picture  representing  the  future 
condition  of  Great  Britain,  should  she  persist  in  her 
oppression  of  the  colonies.  The  design  was  repro- 
duced on  copper-plate,  struck  off  on  cards,  and 
printed,  too,  with  an  "  explanation  "  and  "  moral  " 
attached. 

"Great  Britain,"  said  the  explanation,  "is  supposed  to  have  been 
placed  upon  the  globe  ;  but  the  colonies  (that  is,  her  limbs),  being 
severed  from  her,  she  is  seen  lifting  her  eyes  and  mangled  stumps  to 
Heaven  ;  her  shield,  which  she  is  unable  to  wield,  lies  useless  by  her 
side  ;  her  lance  has  pierced  New  England  ;  the  laurel  branch  has  fal- 
len from  the  hand  of  Pennsylvania  ;  the  English  oak  has  lost  its  head, 
and  stands  a  bare  trunk,  with  a  few  withered  branches  ;  briers  and 
15 


2  26  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

thorns  are  on  the  ground  beneath  it  ;  the  British  ships  have  brooms 
at  their  topmastheacis,  denoting  their  being  on  sale  ;  and  Britannia 
herself  is  seen  sliding  off  the  world  (no  longer  able  to  hold  its  balance) 
her  fragments  overspread  with  the  label,  Date  Obolum  Belisario." 

On  one  thing,  however,  the  agent  was  determined  ; 
he  would  attend  no  more  the  levees  of  any  of  the 
ministers.  Some  proper  show  of  resentment,  both 
for  personal  and  national  reasons,  was  plainly  neces- 
sary, "  I  made  no  justification  of  myself  from  the 
charges  brought  against  me,"  he  afterward  ex- 
plained to  his  son,  in  detailing  this  period  of  his 
public  service;  "  I  made  no  return  of  the  injury  by 
abusing  my  adversaries;  but  held  a  cool,  sullen 
silence,  reserving  myself  to  some  future  opportun- 
ity." And  now  and  then  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
hearing  that  the  "  reasonable  part  of  the  administra- 
tion "  were  ashamed  of  the  way  in  which  they  had 
treated  him.  Perhaps,  too,  the  "  reasonable  part 
of  the  administration  "  had  enough  common  sense 
to  view  with  alarm  the  spirit  of  revenge  displayed 
toward  the  colonies  by  the  "  unreasonable  part  "  of 
their  official  family.  For  we  must  not  forget  that  in 
the  spring  of  1774  Lord  North  brought  into  Parlia- 
ment, and  had  passed,  that  vindictive  bill  closing 
the  port  of  Boston  until  such  time  as  "  order  "  was 
restored  and  indemnification  made  for  the  tea  so 
merrily  pitched  into  the  water.  Two  other  oppres- 
sive measures,  more  sweeping  in  scope  and  no  less 
iniquitous,  were  likewise  enacted  ;  furthermore, 
General  Gage  arrived  in  Boston  to  relieve  the  de- 
spised Hutchinson  (who  went  to  England  to  confer 
with  the  Government) ;  and  by  midsummer  vessels 


177^1        Struggle  for  Independence        227 

loaded  with  British  troops  were  sailing  into  the  har- 
bour. The  real  contest  was  about  to  begin.  Al- 
ready were  preparations  being  made  throughout  the 
excited  provinces  for  the  Continental  Congress  to 
be  held  at  Philadelphia  in  the  coming  September. 

Each  idiotic  act  of  the  ministry  only  increased  the 
desire  of  the  discountenanced  agent  to  do  what  he 
could,  in  the  byways  rather  than  in  the  highways  of 
politics,  to  avert  the  gathering  storm.  A  coalition 
ministry,  more  favourably  disposed  toward  the 
colonies,  was  now  the  hope  of  the  Parliamentary 
minority,  and  to  assist,  however  indirectly,  in  the 
formation  of  such  a  cabinet  became  his  dearest  wish. 
Numerous  were  the  interviews  he  had  with  the 
"  reasonable  "  members  of  both  Houses,  whom  he 
besought  and  conjured  "  not  to  suffer,  by  their 
little  misunderstandings,  so  glorious  a  fabric  as  the 
present  British  empire  to  be  demolished  by  these 
blunderers  " — for,  in  spite  of  all  that  had  gone  be- 
fore, Franklin  still  desired  an  honourable  union 
between  the  mother  country  and  her  far-away  plant- 
ations.* It  was  in  the  heat  of  all  this  eloquent 
appeal  to  the  English  conscience  that  Lord  Chat- 
ham, from  whom,  once  upon  a  time,  he  could  not 
get  an  audience,  asked  to  see  the  distinguished 
American  and  was  pleased  to  treat  him  with  an 
"  abundance  of  civility."  The  reader  with  an  im- 
agination cannot  but  envy  the  witnesses  of  a  meeting 
in  which  the  great   English  statesman  expressed  a 


*  The  reader  is  referred  to  An  Account  of  Negotiations  in  London 
for  Effecting  a  Reconciliation  betxveen  Great  Britain  and  the  Ameri- 
cati  Colonies,  written  by  Franklin  for  his  son. 


2  28  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

love  for  his  brethren  across  the  Atlantic,  and  the 
hope  that  they  would  "  continue  firm  and  united  in 
defending  by  all  peaceable  and  legal  means  their 
constitutional  rights." 

If  Franklin,  on  his  part,  did  not  contrast  the  past 
inaccessibility  of  the  noble  Earl  with  the  new  con- 
ditions, he  must  have  been  less  human  than  bio- 
graphers fondly  suppose.  Perhaps  the  doctor 
deferred  any  such  triumphant  comparison  until 
later.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  assured  Lord  Chatham 
that  he  lamented  the  impending  ruin  of  a  magnifi- 
cent empire,  and  "  hoped  that  if  his  lordship,  with 
the  other  great  and  wise  men  of  the  British  nation, 
would  unite  and  exert  themselves,  it  might  yet  be 
rescued  out  of  the  mangling  hands  of  the  present 
set  of  blundering  ministers."  His  lordship  was 
pleased  with  this  exposition  of  the  case — that  the 
ministers  were  blunderers  who  should  know  better 
than  the  resourceful,  far-seeing  Pitt  ? — but  he  spoke 
of  the  proposed  coalition  cabinet  as  something 
rather  to  be  desired  than  expected.  Then  there 
was  the  opinion  prevailing  in  England  that  America 
aimed  at  complete  independence — "  what  of  that  ?  " 
he  asked.  The  ready  Franklin  was  quick  with  a  com- 
forting answer.  He  had  more  than  once  travelled 
almost  from  one  end  of  the  American  continent  to 
the  other,  and  "  kept  a  great  variety  of  company, 
eating,  drinking,  and  conversing  with  them  freely," 
but  never  had  he  heard  "  in  any  conversation,  from 
any  person,  drunk  or  sober,  the  least  expression  of 
a  wish  for  a  separation,  or  hint  that  such  a  thing 
would  be  advantageous  to  America."     Lord  Chat- 


1776]        Struggle  for  Independence        229 

ham  felt  reassured,  and  did  not  fail  to  say  how  glad 
he  was  to  learn  from  the  good  doctor's  lips  that 
"  independence  "  was  not  an  issue,  and  he  conde- 
scendingly intimated  a  desire  to  see  his  new  friend 
"  as  often  as  might  be."  The  visitor,  who  was 
charmed  with  the  politeness  and  liberal  sentiments 
of  the  great  Englishman,  murmured  how  sensible 
he  was  of  such  an  honour,  and  of  the  advantages  he 
should  reap  from  his  lordship's  instructive  conversa- 
tion, and  so  bowed  himself  out.  Before  another 
year  had  ended  the  first  blood  of  the  Revolution 
flow^ed  at  Lexington  and  Concord ;  in  less  than  two 
years  from  the  date  of  the  Chatham-Franklin  inter- 
view American  independence  had  become  a  fact, 
with  the  philosopher  as  one  of  its  most  devoted  sup- 
porters.     Tempora  iniitantur  ! 

But  who  so  bold  as  to  foretell,  on  that  August 
day  of  1774,  when  these  two  patriots  met  for  the 
first  time,  that  America  would  ere  long  become  a 
sovereign  nation  and  a  power  unto  herself  ?  The 
situation  then  seemed  as  inscrutable  as  a  compli- 
cated game  of  chess — a  game,  in  this  instance,  whose 
happy  solution  was  materially  prevented  by  the 
presence  on  the  board  of  a  troublesome  King.  And 
it  was  through  chess-playing,  curiously  enough,  that 
a  few  Englishmen  sought  to  engage  Franklin  in  a 
scheme  to  effect  the  reconciliation  between  the  two 
countries,  and  to  use  him  as  a  well-rewarded  negoti- 
ator who  should  bring  every  influence  to  bear  in 
putting  his  fellow-Americans  in  a  more  amiable 
frame  of  mind.  It  was  a  colossal  scheme,  which 
had  for  its  beginning  an  invitation  to  take  part  in  a 


230  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

friendly  little  game  with  the  Honourable  Mistress 
Howe,  a  sister  of  the  Admiral  Lord  Howe,  who  was 
later  to  figure  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  Mis- 
tress Howe,  Franklin  was  told,  desired  to  meet  him, 
for  she  fancied  she  could  beat  him  at  his  once 
favourite  chess.  Although  the  doctor  was  out  of 
practice,  he  gallantly  sent  word  that  he  would  wait 
upon  the  lady  when  she  should  think  fit.  He  was 
a  democrat  and,  when  he  so  willed,  a  terrible  stoic, 
but  to  resist  the  attention  of  an  attractive  member 
of  the  aristocracy  was  not  in  his  nature.  Amid  all 
his  troubles  he  could  never  despise  the  eclat  of  a 
London  drawing-room,  nor  forget  that  the  more  he 
went  out  among  **  people  of  quality  "  the  more  did 
he  increase  his  own  influence  and  power  to  benefit 
the  country  of  his  birth. 

So  to  the  house  of  the  Honourable  Mistress  Howe 
he  repaired  one  day,  accompanied  by  a  member  of 
the  Royal  Society,  and  played  a  few  games  with  the 
fair  hostess,  whom  he  found  of  such  "  sensible  con- 
versation and  pleasing  behaviour  "  that  he  was  easily 
induced  to  arrange  for  another  trial  of  skill.  He 
was  a  susceptible  old  gentleman  was  our  hero. 
Thus  far,  so  he  says,  he  had  no  suspicion  that  the 
kings  and  knights  and  pawns  were  but  a  pretext. 
Nor  did  he  see  any  connection  between  chess  and 
politics  when  David  Barclay,  M.P.,  hinted  to  him, 
just  at  this  time,  at  the  "  great  merit  that  person 
would  have  who  could  contrive  some  means  of  pre- 
venting so  terrible  a  calamity  "  as  civil  war  between 
England  and  America.  No  one  might  effect  more 
in   that  direction  than  Franklin  himself,  said  Mr. 


.,:  172  K;*..^" 

-^ CARPEMTERS  HALLfc- 


CARPENTERS'   HALL,   PHILADELPHIA. 

WHEREIN   MET  THE   FIPST  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS,    1774. 


1776]        Struggle  for  Independence        231 

Barclay,  particularly  as  it  was  understood  that  the 
ministry  would  be  very  glad  to  emerge  from  their 
embarrassments  on  any  terms,  "  only  saving  the 
honour  and  dignity  of  government."  The  doctor 
was  dubious,  but  promised  to  consider  the  matter; 
he  ended  by  being  drawn  into  a  conference  with  Dr. 
Fothergill,  at  whose  request  he  wrote  out  a  plan  by 
which,  he  thought,  a  reconciliation  might  possibly 
be  brought  about.  This  plan  suggested  as  a  con- 
cession to  Great  Britain  that  the  tea  thrown  into 
Boston  harbour  should  be  paid  for  by  Massachusetts 
(a  proposition  which  caused  Samuel  Adams  to  cry 
out:  "  Franklin  may  be  a  good  philosopher,  but  he 
is  a  bungling  politician  "),  but  it  exacted  from  the 
mother  country  the  repeal  of  the  tea-duty  and  of  all 
acts  restraining  manufactures  in  the  colonies,  and 
provided,  in  a  general  way,  for  the  granting  of  a 
liberal  but  judicious  autonomy  to  the  people  of 
America. 

It  was  in  the  afternoon  preceding  the  evening  on 
which  Franklin  had  his  interview  with  Dr.  Fother- 
gill and  David  Barclay  that  he  enjoyed — remarkable 
coincidence— his  second  chess  party  with  the  Hon- 
ourable and  highly  entertaining  Mistress  Howe. 
After  a  pleasant  experience  with  the  chessmen,  the 
two  players  drifted  into  a  little  chat,  first  on  a 
mathematical  problem,  and  then  on  the  disposition 
of  the  new  Parliament.  Here  we  begin  to  see  the 
fine  diplomatic  hand  of  the  woman.  "  And  what 
is  to  be  done  with  this  dispute  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  colonies  ?  "  she  asked,  doubtless  with  all  the 
innocence  appertaining  to  femininity;  "  I  hope  we 


232  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

are  not  to  have  a  civil  war  ?  "  "  Why,  they  should 
kiss  and  be  friends,"  responded  the  philosopher; 
"  what  can  they  do  better  ?  Quarrelling  can  be  of 
service  to  neither,  but  is  ruin  to  both."  Then  Mis- 
tress Howe  grew  more  intimate.  "  I  have  often 
said,"  she  sighed,  "  that  I  wished  government  would 
employ  you  to  settle  the  dispute  for  them ;  I  am 
sure  nobody  could  do  it  so  well.  Do  not  you  think 
that  the  thing  is  practicable?"  "  Undoubtedly, 
madame,"  answered  Franklin,  "  if  the  parties  are 
disposed  to  reconciliation ;  for  the  two  countries 
have  really  no  clashing  interests  to  differ  about.  It 
is  rather  a  matter  of  punctilio,  which  two  or  three 
reasonable  people  might  settle  in  half  an  hour.  I 
thank  you  for  the  good  opinion  you  are  pleased  to 
express  of  me;  but  the  ministers  will  never  think  of 
employing  me  in  that  good  work ;  they  choose  rather 
to  abuse  me."  "  Aye,"  said  Mistress  Howe,  with 
a  pretty  indignation,  let  us  suppose,  in  her  sympa- 
thetic voice,  "  they  have  behaved  shamefully  to 
you.  And  indeeed  some  of  them  are  now  ashamed 
of  it  themselves."  So  the  talk  ended.  "  I  looked 
upon  this  as  accidental  conversation ;  thought  no 
more  of  it,"  relates  Franklin.  We  must  take  his 
word  for  this  statement  of  his  unusual  want  of  per- 
ception, yet  are  we  to  be  blamed  if,  deep  down  in 
our  consciousness,  there  lurks  the  thought  that  the 
doctor  was  not  quite  so  ingenuous  as  he  would  lead 
us  to  believe  ?  His  was  a  difficult  path  to  tread  ;  any 
attempt  that  he  could  make  to  bring  on  a  reconcil- 
iation must  be  done  in  an  unofficial  way,  without 
authority   of    the    Continental    Congress   now   as- 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        233 

sembled  in  Philadelphia.  What  more  natural, 
therefore,  than  that  he  should  proceed  with  caution, 
and  simulate  the  virtue  of  childish  innocence, 
though  he  had  it  not  ? 

No  sooner  had  Franklin's  plan  of  accommodation 
(which  he  called  "  Hints  for  Conversation  upon  the 
Subject  of  Terms  that  might  probably  produce  a 
Durable  Union  between  Britain  and  the  Colonies  ") 
been  properly  formulated  than  it  mysteriously 
reached  members  of  the  ministry.  Then  arrived 
the  petition  addressed  to  his  Majesty  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress — a  waste  of  good  brains  and  paper, 
as  it  proved — and  finally,  on  the  evening  of  Christ- 
mas Day  (1774),  there  was  another  little  game  with 
the  obliging  Mistress  Howe,  The  moment  that  he 
entered  her  house  the  lady  informed  Franklin  that 
her  brother.  Lord  Howe,  wished  to  meet  him.  The 
doctor  said  he  would  be  glad  to  have  that  honour. 
As  his  lordship  was  near  by,  the  sister  soon  had  the 
pleasure  of  introducing  to  each  other  the  two  men 
whose  last  meeting  in  this  world  would  be  of  a  rather 
different  nature  from  their  first  one.  After  the  pass- 
ing of  the  inevitable  compliments,  made  obligatory 
by  an  ornate  eighteenth-century  etiquette,  Lord 
Howe  showed  his  hand  by  offering,  practically,  to 
serve  as  an  intermediary  between  a  stiff-necked  minis- 
try and  him  whose  pardon  that  ministry  had  not  the 
manliness  to  ask.  He  set  forth  his  regard  for  Amer- 
ica, and,  to  quote  Franklin,  "  hoped  his  zeal  for  the 
public  welfare  would,  with  me,  excuse  the  imperti- 
nence of  a  mere  stranger,  who  could  have  otherwise 
no  reason  to  expect,  or  right  to  request,  me  to  open 


234  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

my  mind  to  him  on  these  topics ;  but  he  did  conceive 
that,  if  I  would  indulge  him  with  my  ideas  of  the 
means  proper  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation,  it 
might  be  of  some  use ;  that  perhaps  I  might  not  be 
willing  myself  to  have  any  direct  communication 
with  this  ministry  on  this  occasion ;  that  I  might 
likewise  not  care  to  have  it  known  that  I  had  any 
indirect  communication  with  them,  till  I  could  be 
well  assured  of  their  good  dispositions;  that,  being 
himself  upon  no  ill  terms  with  them,  he  thought  it 
not  impossible  that  he  might  by  conveying  my  senti- 
ments to  them,  and  theirs  to  me,  be  a  means  of 
bringing  on  a  good  understanding,  without  commit- 
ting either  them,  or  me,  if  his  negotiation  should  not 
succeed ;  and  that  I  might  rely  on  his  keeping  per- 
fectly secret  everything  I  should  wish  to  remain  so." 
Here  was  a  glowing  temptation.  The  fact  that 
Franklin  yielded  to  it  only  throws  his  patriotism 
into  the  stronger  light.  He  had  no  authority  to 
negotiate  any  treaty  of  compromise,  and  as  med- 
dling might  bring  censure  it  would  be  easier  to  leave 
Congress  to  deal  with  the  vexed  problem.  But  the 
doctor  kept  to  himself  his  fears  of  criticism,  if  he 
had  any;  he  promised  Lord  Howe  to  draw  up  some 
more  proposals  for  a  reconciliation,  and  entered, 
with  all  the  alacrity  of  a  conspirator  in  grand  opera, 
into  a  little  ruse  whereby  he  was  to  continue  his 
chess-playing  with  Mistress  Howe,  and  thus  have 
opportunity  to  meet  her  brother  without  attracting 
attention.  Thereby  the  well-intended  little  plot  de- 
veloped. The  agent  sketched  out  a  second  plan, 
which  Mistress  Howe  copied  and  privately  sent  to 


i'776]        Struggle  for  Independence        ^35 

his  lordship;  this  new  paper  and  the  "  Hints  "  were 
handed  about  in  ministerial  circles,  and  enough 
mystery  was  made  of  the  whole  business  to  suggest 
that  a  treasonable,  rather  than  a  highly  creditable, 
correspondence  was  in  progress.  There  is  some- 
thing so  refreshing  about  a  secret. 

Nor  was  the  cultivation  of  Lord  Chatham  forgot- 
ten by  the  American  diplomat,  who  called  on  that 
nobleman  after  the  petition  from  Congress  had 
arrived,  and  was  delighted  to  hear  him  describe  the 
gathering  in  Philadelphia  as  "  the  most  honourable 
assembly  of  statesmen  since  those  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans,  in  the  most  virtuous  times." 
A  little  later,  on  the  19th  of  January,  Lord  Chat- 
ham sent  word  to  Franklin,  by  Lord  Stanhope,  that 
on  the  following  day  he  was  to  make  a  motion,  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  concerning  America,  and  that 
he  greatly  desired  his  friend  should  hear  it. 

"  The  next  morning,"  says  Franklin,  "his  lordship  (Stanhope)  let 
me  know  by  another  card,  that,  if  I  attended  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
lobby,  Lord  Chatham  would  be  there  about  that  time,  and  would 
himself  introduce  me.  I  attended, 'and  met  him  there  accordingly. 
On  my  mentioning  to  him  what  Lord  Stanhope  had  written  to  me, 
he  said  :  '  Certainly,  and  I  shall  do  it  with  the  more  pleasure,  as  I 
am  sure  your  being  present  at  this  day's  debate  will  be  of  more  serv- 
ice to  America  than  mine  '  ;  and  so  taking  me  by  the  arm  was  lead- 
ing me  along  the  passage  to  the  door  that  enters  near  the  throne, 
when  one  of  the  door-keepers  followed,  and  acquainted  him  that,  by 
the  order,  none  were  to  be  carried  in  at  that  door  but  the  eldest  sons 
or  brothers  of  peers  ;  on  which  he  limped  back  with  me  to  the  door 
near  the  bar,  where  were  standing  a  number  of  gentlemen,  waiting 
for  the  peers  who  were  to  introduce  them,  and  some  peers  waiting 
for  friends  they  expected  to  introduce  ;  among  whom  he  delivered  me 
to  the  door-keepers,  saying  aloud,   '  This  is  Dr.   Franklin,  whom  I 


236  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

would  have  admitted  into  the  House,'  when  they  readily  opened  the 
door  for  me  accordingly." 

The  honour  of  Lord  Chatham's  intimacy  pleased 
Frankhn  not  a  Httle,  and  when  the  peer  called  upon 
him  in  Craven  Street,  on  a  certain  Sunday,  and  left 
his  carriage  standing  at  the  door  so  long  that  the 
people  coming  from  church  grew  curious,  the  agent 
was  elated.  As  he  confesses:  "  Such  a  visit  from 
so  great  a  man,  and  so  important  a  business,  flat- 
tered not  a  little  my  vanity;  and  the  honour  of  it 
gave  me  the  more  pleasure,  as  it  happened  on  the 
very  day  twelve  months  that  the  ministry  had  taken 
so  much  pains  to  disgrace  me  before  the  Privy 
Council."  In  fact,  his  lordship  had  a  little  plan  of 
his  own  for  the  happy  settlement  of  the  American 
situation,  and  he  came  to  show  it  to  the  would-be 
peace-maker.  When,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days, 
Chatham  presented  the  paper  to  Parliament,  Frank- 
lin was  on  hand  to  hear  the  debate  in  the  Upper 
House.  Here  he  had  the  honour  of  an  insult  from 
my  Lord  Sandwich,  who  arose  and  moved  that  the 
plan  be  rejected  "  with  the  contempt  it  deserved." 
He  could  never  believe,  the  speaker  protested,  that 
it  was  the  work  of  a  British  peer,  and,  turning 
toward  the  agent,  he  said,  "  he  fancied  he  had  in 
his  eye  the  person  who  drew  it  up,  one  of  the  bitter- 
est and  most  mischievous  enemies  this  country  has 
ever  known,"  Immediately  many  of  the  lords 
looked  toward  the  seemingly  unconscious  enemy, 
who  kept  his  features  immovable.  The  insult  was 
compensated  for  by  the  compliment  which  it  drew 
from    Lord   Chatham,   who   rebuked  the  tirade  of 


THE  EARL  OF  CHATHAM. 

raOM  AN  OIL  PAINTIN3  IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        237 

Lord  Sandu'ich,  and  declared  that  the  gentleman  so 
injuriously  alluded  to  was  one  whom  "  all  Europe 
held  in  high  estimation  for  his  knowledge  and  wis- 
dom,"— one  who  was  an  honour  "  not  to  the  Eng- 
lish nation  alone,  but  to  human  nature."  Again 
the  philosopher  remained  impassive,  although  he 
kept  up  a  fierce  thinking,  and  wondered  how  it  was 
that  these  hereditary  legislators  dared  to  claim  sov- 
ereignty over  three  millions  of  sensible  Americans, 

since  they  appeared  to  have  scarce  discretion 
enough  to  govern  a  herd  of  swine."  "  Hereditary 
legislators!"    he   said  to  himself,    contemptuously. 

There  would  be  more  propriety,  because  less  haz- 
ard of  mischief,  in  having  (as  in  some  university  of 
Germany)  hereditary  professors  of  mathematics!" 
The  one-time  loyalty  of  the  sage  was  fast  turning 
into  something  not  so  reverent. 

How  the  several  "  plans  "  to  ward  off  the  Revo- 
lution failed,  how  the  feelings  of  ministry  settled 
down  into  a  sort  of  blind  rage  against  the  colonies, 
and  how  Franklin  grew  so  angry  as  almost  to  lose 
control  of  that  well-ordered  temper  of  his,  are  mat- 
ters of  history.  The  chess-playing  ceased  after  a 
while,  pleasant  as  it  had  proved,  although  before 
the  agreeable  games  came  to  an  end  Lord  Howe 
had  asked  whether,  in  case  he  were  sent  to  America 
as  a  commissioner  for  settling  the  differences,  the 
doctor  would  go  with  him.  He  accompanied  the 
request  with  the  promise  of  a  substantial  bribe. 
"  That  the  ministry  may  have  an  opportunity  of 
showing  their  good  disposition  towards  yourself, 
will  you  give  me  leave,  Mr,  Franklin,  to  procure  for 


238  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

yoLi  previously  some  mark  of  it ;  suppose  the  pay- 
ment here  of  the  arrears  of  your  salary,  as  agent  for 
New  England,  which  I  understand  they  have  stopped 
for  some  time  past?"  The  scheme  was  simple 
enough  ;  the  well-known  business  frugality  of  the 
agent  was  to  be  tempted  ;  for  a  few  hundred  pounds 
he  was  to  sell  himself  to  the  purposes  of  the  English 
Government,  and  to  plead  with  his  fellow-Americans, 
at  so  much  per  head,  to  take  whatever  terms  might 
be  offered. 

'  My  lord,"  replied  Franklin,  "  I  shall  deem  it  a  great  honour  to 
be  in  any  shape  joined  with  your  lordship  in  so  good  a  work  ;  but,  if 
you  hope  service  from  any  influence  I  may  be  supposed  to  have, 
drop  all  thoughts  of  procuring  me  any  previous  favours  from  minis- 
ters ;  my  accepting  them  would  destroy  the  very  influence  you  pro- 
pose to  make  use  of :  they  would  be  considered  as  so  many  bribes  to 
betray  the  interest  of  my  country  ;  but  only  let  me  see  the  propositions, 
and,  if  I  approve  of  them,  I  shall  not  hesitate  a  moment,  but  will  hold 
myself  ready  to  accompany  your  lordship  at  an  hour's  warning." 

This  project  fell  to  the  ground,  like  all  the  rest, 
and  Franklin  prepared  to  return  to  Philadelphia.  It 
would  be  a  sad  home-coming,  for  he  had  lately  re- 
ceived news  that  his  "  dear  child,"  the  worthy 
Deborah  Franklin,  was  no  more.  The  wife  who 
had  watched  so  faithfully  the  unfolding  and  the  de- 
velopment of  his  public  life,  and  who  had  guarded 
so  zealously  his  personal  interests,  from  the  time 
that  she  helped  to  tend  the  little  store  on  Market 
Street,  had  left  him  before  the  climax  to  his  own 
work  had  been  reached.*     It  was  a  hard  blow  for  an 


*  Mrs.  Franklin  died  of  paralysis  on  the  igth  of  December,  1774. 
"  Her  death,"  wrote  Governor  Franklin  to  his  father,  "  was  no  more 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        239 

old  man  to  bear,  but  he  had  the  spirit  of  a  Socrates. 
He  never  forgot,  through  all  the  trying  time  prior 
to  his  sailing  from  England,  to  keep  before  him  the 
needs  of  the  colonies.  Even  the  danger  of  a  public 
insult,  like  the  one  offered  by  Lord  Sandwich,  could 
not  frighten  him  away  from  Parliament.  Once, 
when  he  attended  a  session  of  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  heard  his  countrymen  abused  as  the  lowest  of 
mankind,  he  returned  in  a  heated  mood  to  his  lodg- 
ings, and  drew  up  a  memorial  for  presentation  to 
Lord  Dartmouth.  It  was  a  rather  fiery  exposition 
of  the  wrongs  of  Massachusetts:  fortunate  it  proved 
that  he  listened  to  some  sage  advice,  and  never  sent 
the  paper  to  the  Secretary.  Had  he  done  so,  he 
might  have  been  promptly  arrested. 

When  the  exile  reached  Philadelphia,  early  in 
May,  he  was  welcomed  not  only  by  his  daughter 
Sarah  (now  Mrs.  Bache)  and  her  family,  but  by  all 
Philadelphia  as  well.  There  were  hundreds  of  fer- 
vent greetings,  while  the  most  distinguished  mark 
of  honour  and  esteem  was  shown  in  the  action  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Assembly,  which  proceeded,  upon 
the  day  after  Franklin's  return,  to  elect  him  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Second  Continental  Congress.  There 
was  work  to  be  done ;  the  actions  of  Lexington  and 
Concord   and    the   tyranny   of    General    Gage   had 


than  might  be  reasonably  expected  after  the  paralytic  stroke  she 
received  some  time  ago,  which  greatly  affected  her  memory  and  un- 
derstanding. She  told  me  when  I  took  leave  of  her  on  my  removal 
to  Amboy,  that  she  never  expected  to  see  you  unless  you  returned 
this  winter,  for  that  she  was  sure  she  should  not  live  till  next  sum- 
mer." 


240  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

changed  the  spirit  of  the  scene ;  the  spectre  of  war 
stalked  grimly  through  the  land.  The  country  was 
rising  to  defend  its  liberties,  perhaps  its  very  exist- 
ence ;  it  wanted  but  several  days  to  the  assembling 
of  the  colonial  representatives  who  were  to  direct 
the  national  resistance  and  elect  George  Washing- 
ton commander-in-chief  of  the  army.  Franklin  had 
scarcely  a  minute  to  recuperate  from  the  tiresome 
voyage;  once  more  he  put  on  the  armour  of  energy, 
and  no  one  in  all  excited  Philadelphia  was  more 
ready  to  assist  than  he,  despite  the  fact  that  he  was 
nearly  seventy  years  old.  Perhaps  it  would  be 
more  appropriate  to  say  that  he  was  nearly  seventy 
years  young. 

"  His  mind  never  grew  old  ;  and  his  body,  at  this  time,  was  not 
perceptibly  impaired.  Writers  of  the  period  describe  him  as  having 
grown  portly,  and  he  himself  frequently  alludes,  in  jocular  exaggera- 
tion, to  his  great  bulk.  He  had  now  discarded  the  cumbersome  wig 
of  his  early  portraits,  and  wore  his  own  hair,  thin  and  gray,  without 
powder  or  pigtail.  His  head  being  remarkably  large  and  massive, 
the  increased  size  of  his  body  was  thought  to  have  given  proportion  as 
well  as  dignity  to  his  frame.  His  face  was  ruddy,  and  indicated  vig- 
orous health.  His  countenance  expressed  serenity,  firmness,  benevo- 
lence ;  and  easily  assumed  a  certain  look  of  comic  shrewdness,  as  if 
waiting  to  see  whether  his  companions  had  '  taken'  a  joke."* 

It  was  as  a  hard,  effective  worker  and  counsellor, 
rather  than  as  an  orator  or  a  man  of  showy  brilliancy, 
that  Franklin  now  shone  forth  in  the  important  pro- 
ceedings of  Congress. 

"  My  time  was  never  more  fully  employed,"  he  writes  to  the  good 
Dr.  Priestley.  "  In  the  morning,  at  six,  I  am  at  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  appointed  by  the  Assembly  to  put  the  province  in  a  state  of 


Parton's  Life  and  Times  of  Beniamin  Franklin. 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        241 

defence  ;  which  committee  holds  till  near  nine,  when  I  am  at  the 
Congress,  and  that  sits  till  after  four  in  the  afternoon.  Both  these 
bodies  proceed  with  the  greatest  unanimity,  and  their  meetings  are 
well  attended.  It  will  scarce  be  credited  in  Britain,  that  men  can  be 
as  diligent  with  us  from  zeal  for  the  public  good,  as  with  you  for 
thousands  per  annum.  Such  is  the  difference  between  uncorrupted 
new  states  and  corrupted  old  ones." 

It  was  only  two  days  before  the  date  of  this  letter 
that  he  had  written  those  famous  lines  to  his  friend 
William  Strahan : 

"  You  are  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  one  of 
that  majority  which  has  doomed  my  country  to  de- 
struction. You  have  begun  to  burn  our  towns,  and 
murder  our  people.  Look  upon  your  hands,  they 
are  stained  with  the  blood  of  your  relations!  You 
and  I  were  long  friends;  you  are  now  my  enemy, 
and  I  am  yours." 

Meanwhile  Franklin  was  doing  something  more 
than  indulging  in  outbursts  of  patriotism.  He 
served  on  a  number  of  important  committees,  occa- 
sionally relieving  the  tedium  of  their  meetings  by  an 
apt  witticism  which  tickled  the  members'  sense  of 
humour,  and  in  addition  to  all  his  other  burdens  he 
had  thrust  upon  him,  not  unwillingly,  perhaps,  the 
new  office  of  Postmaster-General  under  direction  of 
Congress.  Matters  of  finance,  war,  the  mails,  In- 
dian negotiations,  statesmanship,  ct  ccstera — there 
was  no  subject  on  which  he  could  not  give  much 
needed  counsel.  He  even  found  time  to  outline  a 
plan  for  the  permanent  union  of  all  the  British 
colonies,  among  which  he  actually  included  Ireland, 
maybe  as  a  theatrical,  if  useless,  bit  of  defiance  to 
his  Majesty  of  England.     Then,  after  the  adjourn- 


242  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

ment  of  Congress,  the  doctor  paid  a  visit  to  his  son, 
Governor  Franklin,  of  New  Jersey,  whose  own  son, 
William  Temple  Franklin,  had  been  with  the  philo- 
sopher in  London.  It  would  come  to  pass  that  as 
the  weeks  went  on  a  complete  estrangement  was  to 
take  place  between  Dr.  Franklin  and  the  Governor, 
who  would  go  over  heart  and  soul  to  the  cause  of 
the  British,  and  that  William  Temple  Franklin  would 
remain  with  his  grandfather  rather  than  with  his  Tory- 
parent.  For  it  was  not  long  ere  the  Governor,  in 
his  enthusiasm  for  the  royal  interests,  got  himself 
into  bad  odour  with  the  patriots,  and  finally  into 
prison.* 

With  the  re-assembling  of  Congress  in  September 
came  more  work  for  Franklin.  So  little  did  his 
friends  scruple  to  pack  duties  upon  his  brave  old 
shoulders,  that  the  members  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Assembly  elected  him  to  a  seat  among  them,  and 
the  Continental  delegates  chose  him  as  one  of  a 
committee  of  three  to  discuss  with  General  Wash- 
ington, at  Cambridge,  as  to  the  best  means  of  sup- 


*  There  was  so  much  of  the  talented  and  agreeable  in  Governor 
Franklin's  nature  that  one  must  regret  that  he  did  not  join  the  ranks 
of  the  patriots,  wherein  he  might  have  served  the  country  well,  made 
his  own  name  something  to  be  pleasantly  remembered,  and  have 
saved  his  father  many  a  regretful  thought.  But  William  Franklin 
was  a  greater  Tory  than  the  average  Englishman — more  loyal  than 
the  King — and  as  a  result  of  his  pernicious  activity  in  behalf  of  the 
royalists  he  had  to  spend  many  weary  months  in  a  Connecticut  jail. 
"The  people  of  the  Jerseys,"  says  a  contemporary  notice,  "on 
account  of  his  abilities,  connections,  principles,  and  address,  viewed 
him  as  a  mischievous  and  dangerous  enemy  in  that  province,  and 
consequently  thought  it  expedient  to  remove  him,  under  a  strong 
guard,  to  Connecticut." 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        243 

porting  and  regulating  the  American  army.  Not 
heeding  the  inconveniences  of  the  journey  to  Massa- 
chusetts, the  stout-hearted  citizen  set  out  manfully 
with  his  two  colleagues  on  the  committee,  Benjamin 
Harrison  and  Thomas  Lynch,  after  having  written 
the  day  before  to  Dr.  Priestley  that  America  was 
as  determined  and  unanimous  as  ever. 

"  Britain,  at  the  expense  of  three  millions,  has  killed  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Yankees  this  campaign,  which  is  twenty  thousand  pounds  a 
head  ;  and  at  Bunker's  Hill  she  gained  a  mile  of  ground,  half  of 
which  she  lost  again  by  our  taking  post  on  Ploughed  Hill.  During 
the  same  time  sixty  thousand  children  have  been  born  in  America," 
from  which  it  was  easy  to  calculate,  added  the  writer,  "  the  time 
and  expense  necessary  to  kill  us  ail,  and  conquer  our  whole  terri- 
tory." 

No  sooner  had  they  arrived  at  Cambridge  than  the 
three  delegates  entered  with  Washington  into  the 
business  of  formulating  plans  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  army,  the  raising  of  new  regiments,  and  the 
revising  of  the  articles  of  war.  We  are  warranted 
in  supposing  that  FrankHn  had  many  a  talk  with 
the  commander-in-chief  about  the  interesting  days 
when  the  two  of  them,  neither  so  famous  or  so  full 
of  responsibility  as  at  present,  used  to  meet  in  the 
camp  of  poor,  half-forgotten  Braddock.  Times  had 
changed  since  then ;  France  was  no  longer  the  com- 
mon enemy ;  the  redcoats  were  become  the  targets 
for  American  bullets. 

When  Franklin  got  back  to  Philadelphia  he  may 
have  deluded  himself  with  the  idea  that  he  was  to 
engage  in  no  more  cross-country  expeditions.  False 
hope !     When  April  of  the  memorable  '76  had  come. 


244  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

and  the  spirit  for  independence  was  setting  in 
throughout  the  distraught  colonies — when  the  Eng- 
lish Government  was  treating  her  American  children 
more  and  more  as  rebels,  fit  only  for  ignominious 
subjection — the  philosopher  was  on  the  waters  of 
the  fair  Hudson,  treading  the  deck  of  a  sloop  des- 
tined for  Albany.  He  went  with  Samuel  Chase 
and  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  to  aid,  if  possible, 
in  forming  a  union  between  the  colonies  and  Canada, 
and  to  hold  a  conference,  at  Montreal,  with  the  then 
heroic  Benedict  ilrnold.  In  company  of  these  three 
commissioners  appointed  by  Congress  was  Father 
John  Carroll,  afterward  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
who  was  expected  to  influence  the  Roman  Catholic 
clergymen  of  the  North  in  the  interests  of  the 
American  cause.  The  boat  sailed  up  the  river,  not 
without  a  storm  to  diversify  the  trip ;  at  Albany  the 
commissioners  left  their  perilous  craft,  and  thence 
came  jolting  rides  over  country  roads,  and  uncom- 
fortable experiences  with  bateaux,  oxen,  and  ca- 
leches,  until  tired  out  and  shaken  up,  the  party 
reached  IMontreal. 

Here  General  Arnold  paid  his  distinguished  visi- 
tors ever}^  attention,  but  the  information  he  gave 
them  as  to  the  disposition  of  Canada  toward  the 
Continental  cause  must  have  filled  them  with  disgust. 
American  financial  credit,  American  arms,  and,  in 
short,  all  things  American,  so  far  as  the  term  applied 
to  the  colonies  southward,  were  at  a  humiliating 
discount  among  the  Canadians. 

"  Not  the  most  trifling  service  can  be  procured,"  as  the  commis- 
sioners straightway  wrote  to  Congress,  "  without  an  assurance  of  in- 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        245 

slant  pay  in  silver  or  gold.  The  express  we  sent  from  St.  Johns,  to 
inform  the  General  of  our  arrival  there,  and  to  request  carriages  for 
La  Prairie,  was  stopped  at  the  ferry,  till  a  friend  passing  changed  a 
dollar  bill  for  him,  into  silver  ;  and  we  are  obliged  to  that  friend  for 
his  engagement  to  pay  the  calashes,  or  they  would  not  have  come 
for  us." 

Congress  was  looked  upon  in  the  North  as  an  irre- 
.sponsible,  insolvent,  rebellious  body,  and  the  posi- 
tion of  the  commissioners  proved  irksome  in  the 
extreme,  pestered  as  they  were  "  with  demands, 
great  and  small,  that  they  could  not  answer,"  in  a 
place  where  their  enemies  predominated,  where  the 
garrison  was  weak,  and  where  the  approach  of  a 
British  force  would  have  turned  the  negative  hostil- 
ity into  one  of  a  positive  sort.  When  news  came  of 
the  arrival,  at  Quebec,  of  a  British  fleet  laden  with 
troops,  and  of  its  defeat  of  the  poor  little  American 
army,  the  commissioners  wisely  gave  up  the  fight. 
Canada  was  lost.  Franklin  promptly  set  out  on  his 
homeward  journey,  taking  with  him  Father  Carroll, 
an  undaunted  hopefulness  for  the  colonies,  and  some 
symptoms  of  the  gout.  He  must  have  taken  back, 
likewise,  a  grimly  humourous  view  of  Canadian 
prudence  and  ignorance,  and,  indeed,  he  was  heard 
to  say  that  if  another  mission  to  the  North  were  to 
be  undertaken  it  should  consist  of  schoolmasters. 

Franklin  arrived  home  in  time  to  assist  in  the  irre- 
sistible movement  for  throwing  off  all  allegiance  to 
the  British  crown:  he  had  the  privilege  of  af^xing 
his  signature  to  the  imperishable  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence which  transformed  a  series  of  vassal 
colonies  into  an  embryonic  nation.  It  was  a  privilege 
which  promised  as  much  of  danger  as  of  honour, 


246  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

for  should  British  arms  finally  triumph  over  Ameri- 
can resistance,  each  signer  of  the  parchment  had 
before  him  the  prospect  of  a  gallows  and  a  halter 
furnished  through  the  generosity  of  his  Most 
Gracious  and  Obstinate  Majesty,  George  III.,  De- 
fender of  the  Faith,  Defender  of  British  Prejudice, 
and  Defender,  likewise,  of  Obsolete  Prerogative. 
But  the  die  was  cast,  and  no  one  realised  more  the 
necessity  for  the  great  step,  or  placed  his  name  more 
cheerfully  on  what  might  come  to  be  a  roll  of  treason, 
or  a  death-warrant,  than  did  Benjamin  Franklin. 
More  than  that,  he  was  one  of  the  committee  of  five, 
with  Thomas  Jefferson  at  its  head,  which  Congress 
appointed  to  draft  the  Declaration.  He  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  shaping  of  the  document,  beyond 
making  a  few  verbal  suggestions.  Jefferson  wrote 
the  draft  of  the  Declaration ;  he  then  submitted  it 
in  turn  to  Franklin  and  John  Adams,  and  finally  to 
the  whole  committee. 

From  the  committee  the  paper  was  sent  to  Con- 
gress, where  it  ran  the  gauntlet  of  a  pretty  free 
criticism  before  its  slight  amendment  and  final  adop- 
tion. While  listening  to  the  debate,  and  writhing 
under  the  fire  of  questions  and  remarks  to  which  the 
Declaration  gave  rise,  Jefferson  was  partly  consoled 
for  his  ordeal  by  a  bit  of  humour  from  the  lips  of 
Franklin,  next  to  whom  he  sat. 

"  I  have  made  it  a  rule,"  whispered  the  philosopher  to  the  Virgin- 
ian, "  whenever  in  my  power,  to  avoid  becoming  the  draftsman  of 
papers  to  be  reviewed  by  a  public  body.  I  took  my  lesson  from  an 
incident  which  I  will  relate  to  you.  When  I  was  a  journeyman 
printer,  one  of  my  companions,  an  apprenticed  hatter,  having  served 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        247 

out  his  time,  was  about  to  open  shop  for  himself.  His  first  concern 
was  to  have  a  handsome  sign-board  with  a  proper  inscription.  He 
composed  it  in  these  words :  Jokn  Thompson,  Hatter,  makes  and 
sells  Hats  for  ready  Money,  with  a  figure  of  a  hat  subjoined.  But  he 
thought  he  would  submit  it  to  his  friends  for  their  amendments.  The 
first  he  showed  it  to  thought  the  word  hatter  tautologous,  because 
followed  by  the  words  makes  hats,  which  showed  he  was  a  hatter.  It 
was  struck  out.  The  next  observed  that  the  word  makes  might  as 
well  be  omitted,  because  his  customers  would  not  care  who  made  the 
hats  ;  if  good  and  to  their  mind  they  would  buy,  by  whomsoever 
made.  He  struck  it  out.  A  third  said  he  thought  the  words  for 
ready  money  were  useless,  as  it  was  not  the  custom  of  the  place  to  sell 
on  credit.  Everyone  who  purchased  expected  to  pay.  They  were 
parted  with,  and  the  inscription  now  stood,  John  Thompson,  sells 
hats.  '  Sells  hats,'  says  his  next  friend ;  '  why  nobody  will  expect 
you  to  give  them  away.  What,  then,  is  the  use  of  that  word?'  It 
was  stricken  out,  and  hats  followed,  the  rather  as  there  was  one 
painted  on  the  board.  So  his  inscription  was  ultimately  reduced  to 
John  Thompson,  with  the  figure  of  a  hat  subjoined." 

Fortunately  for  the  nation,  and  for  the  temper  of 
Thomas  Jefferson,  the  Declaration  was  treated  with 
more  respect  than  John  Thompson's  dwindling  sign. 

Throughout  all  the  trials  of  this  critical  period  of 
American  history,  so  fraught  with  uncertainty  and 
even  gloom,  the  venerable  doctor  preserved  his 
sense  of  fun.  It  came  out  now  and  then  as  refresh- 
ing as  a  glimpse  of  golden  sunshine  on  a  dark  day. 
When  John  Hancock  remarked  solemnly,  just  prior 
to  the  signing  of  the  Declaration,  "  We  must  be 
unanimous ;  there  must  be  no  pulling  different  ways ; 
we  must  all  hang  together,"  it  was  the  quick-witted 
Pennsylvanian  who  replied:  "  Yes,  we  must  indeed 
all  hang  together,  or,  most  assuredly,  we  shall  all 
hang  separately." 

Four   days   after   the   "  Fourth  "    Franklin    was 


248  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

elected  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  chosen  to  form 
a  republican  government  for  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania — a  Convention  which  made  him  its 
President  and  gave  him  the  largest  number  of  votes 
received  by  any  of  the  nine  representatives  whom  it 
sent  to  Congress.  The  old  Assembly  had  ceased  to 
exist ;  Pennsylvania  was  indeed  a  sovereign  state, 
and  the  days  of  the  proprietaries  were  no  more. 
The  not  over-exuberant  sum  of  ;!^  130,000  sterling 
would  recompense  the  Penns  for  the  loss  of  their 
estates,  and  close  forever  the  accounts  between 
them  and  their  unappreciative  "  subjects." 

Thus  the  activities  of  Franklin  seemed  to  increase 
rather  than  diminish  ;  he  had  tasks  which  might  well 
have  taxed  the  powers  of  a  man  but  half  his  age. 
Never  did  he  flinch,  however,  and  he  managed  to 
divide  his  time  in  such  a  fashion  as  to  produce  the 
best  results.  Frequently  he  was  at  the  Convention  ; 
again  he  could  be  found  attending  the  sittings  of 
Congress ;  at  all  times  was  he  looked  up  to  as  a  man 
of  commanding  intelligence,  quick  of  expedient, 
sound  of  advice,  and  leonine  of  heart  in  love  for  the 
new  confederation.  Soon  did  the  patriot  have  a 
chance  to  exercise  anew  his  diplomatic  talents  in  an 
interview  with  his  old  friend  Lord  Howe,  who  had 
come  over  to  America  to  command  the  British  naval 
forces  operating  against  New  York.  The  Admiral 
and  his  brother,  Sir  William  Howe  (who  was  to 
command  the  army),  arrived  in  a  dual  capacity, 
being  sent  either  to  wage  an  aggressive  campaign, 
or,  if  possible,  to  act  as  commissioners  in  restoring 
peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies.     Lord 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        249 

Howe  had  a  sincere  desire  to  effect  reconciliation, 
but  as  his  only  remedy  was  the  promising  of  pardons 
to  submissive  and  repentant  colonists,  with  a  vague 
hint  of  future  good-will  on  the  part  of  the  crown 
and  Parliament,  the  prospects  of  a  settlement  were 
neither  great  nor  alluring.  "  Get  down  on  your 
knees  and  beg  our  forgiveness,  and  we  may  forget 
all  your  wickedness,"  was  practically  the  message 
sent  by  King  George  and  his  ministers.* 

As  such  a  promise  was  little  more  than  an  imper- 
tinence it  may  be  imagined  that  the  Americans  did 
not  respond  to  the  invitation  of  the  commissioners 
with  the  hoped-for  alacrity.  However,  after  the 
battle  of  Long  Island  had  been  fought,  and  Lord 
Howe  had  made  overtures  for  a  conference  with 
some  members  of  Congress,  "  as  private  gentlemen," 
Dr.  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and  Edward  Rutledge 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  see  the  Admiral  and 
learn  from  him  "  whether  he  has  any  authority  to 
treat  with  persons  authorised  by  Congress  for  that 
purpose  on  behalf  of  America,  and  what  that  author- 
ity is,  and  to  hear  such  propositions  as  he  shall  think 
fit  to  make  respecting  the  same."  Howe  had 
already  written  to  Franklin  in  terms  of  the  greatest 
cordiality.  The  reply  of  the  philosopher  expressed 
the  belief  that  when  his  lordship  found  it  impossible 

*  The  commissioners  were  authorised  "  to  declare  any  province, 
colony,  county,  district,  or  town,  to  be  at  peace  with  His  Majesty; 
that  due  consideration  should  be  had  to  the  meritorious  services  of 
any  who  should  aid  or  assist  in  restoring  the  public  tranquillity  ;  that 
their  dutiful  representations  should  be  received,  pardons  granted,  and 
suitable  encouragement  to  such  as  would  promote  the  measures  of 
legal  government  and  peace. " 


250  Benjamin  Franklin  [1774- 

to  secure  "  reconciliation,"  the  latter  would  "  re- 
linquish so  odious  a  command,  and  return  to  a  more 
honourable  private  station." 

The  committee  were  two  days  in  getting  from 
Philadelphia  to  Amboy.  The  conference  took 
place  on  Staten  Island,  in  an  old  stone  house,  one 
room  of  which  had  been  "  made  romantically  ele- 
gant "  by  decorations  of  moss,  and  branches  of 
trees.  The  three  Congressmen  were  received  by 
Lord  Howe  with  every  show  of  civility  and  regard; 
there  was  liberal  entertainment  of  the  gastronomic 
kind,  and  no  end  of  presenting-of-arms  from  the 
soldiers.  When  the  wine  and  the  more  solid  cheer 
were  disposed  of,  my  Lord  Howe  opened  the  con- 
ference by  setting  forth  his  desire  for  peace,  and  his 
love  for  the  colonies.  "  I  feel  for  America  as  for  a 
brother,  and  if  America  should  fall,  I  should  feel  and 
lament  it  like  the  loss  of  a  brother, ' '  said  the  Admiral. 
My  lord,"  quickly  put  in  Dr.  Franklin,  with  a 
pleasant,  smiling  bow,  and  a  7iaiz'c  air,  "  we  will  use 
our  utmost  endeavours  to  save  your  lordship  that 
mortification."  Whereupon  his  lordship  remarked, 
"  I  suppose  you  will  endeavour  to  give  us  employ- 
ment in  Europe,"  and  then  went  on  to  harp  upon 
the  fact  that  he  was  receiving  the  committee  in  a 
private  capacity  rather  than  as  the  representative  of 
an  illegal  Congress. 

Dr.  Franklin.  Your  lordship  may  consider  us  in  any  view 
you  think  proper.  We,  on  our  part,  are  at  liberty  to  consider  our- 
selves in  our  real  character.  But  there  is,  really,  no  necessity  on 
this  occasion  to  distinguish  between  members  of  Congress  and  indi- 
viduals.    The  conversation  may  be  held  as  among  friends. 


1776]       Struggle  for  Independence        251 

Mr.  Adams.  Your  lordship  may  consider  me  in  what  light  you 
please.  Indeed,  I  should  be  willing  to  consider  myself  for  a  few 
moments  in  any  character  which  would  be  agreeable  to  your  lordship 
except  that  of  a  British  subject. 

Lord  Howe.     Mr.  Adams  is  a  decided  character. 

Mr.  Rutledge.  I  think,  with  Dr.  Franklin,  that  the  conversa- 
tion may  be  as  among  friends. 

A  little  more  conversation  disclosed  how  meagre 
were  the  powers  of  the  commissioners  from  his 
Majesty — powers  which  Lord  Howe  said  were  "  to 
restore  peace  and  grant  pardons,  to  attend  to  com- 
plaints and  representations,  and  to  confer  upon  the 
means  of  a  reunion  upon  terms  honourable  and  ad- 
vantageous to  the  colonies  and  to  Great  Britain." 
He  was  told  very  plainly  that  the  Americans  would 
never  come  again  under  the  English  Government ; 
that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  settled 
the  matter,  and  that  "  they  would  not,  even  if  the 
Congress  should  desire  it,  return  to  the  King's  gov- 
ernment."    The  conference  ended  thus: 

Lord  Howe.  If  such  are  your  sentiments,  gentlemen,  I  can 
only  lament  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  bring  about  the  accommo- 
dation I  wish.  I  have  not  authority,  nor  do  I  ever  expect  to  have, 
to  treat  with  the  colonies  as  states  independent  of  the  crown  of  Great 
Britain.  I  am  sorry,  gentlemen,  that  you  have  had  the  trouble  of 
coming  so  far  to  so  little  purpose.  If  the  colonies  will  not  give  up 
the  system  of  independency,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  enter  into  any 
negotiation 

Dr.  Franklin.  It  would  take  as  much  time  for  us  to  refer  to 
and  get  answers  from  our  constituents,  as  it  would  the  royal  commis- 
sioners to  get  fresh  instructions  from  home,  which,  I  suppose,  might 
be  about  three  months. 

Lord  Howe.  It  is  in  vain  to  think  of  my  receiving  instructions 
to  treat  upon  that  ground. 


252 


Benjamin  Franklin 


[1776 


Dr.  Franklin.  Well,  my  lord,  as  America  is  to  expect  nothing 
but  upon  unconditional  submission 

Lord  Howe  {interrupting).  No,  Dr.  Franklin.  Great  Britain 
does  not  require  unconditional  submission.  I  think  that  what  I  have 
already  said  proves  the  contrary,  and  I  desire,  gentlemen,  that  you 
will  not  go  away  with  such  an  idea. 

Dr.  Franklin.  As  your  lordship  has  no  proposition  to  make 
to  us,  give  me  leave  to  ask  whether,  if  we  should  make  propositions 
to  Great  Britain  (not  that  I  know,  or  am  authorised  to  say  we  shall), 
you  would  receive  and  transmit  them  ? 

Lord  Howe.  I  do  not  know  that  I  could  avoid  receiving  any 
papers  that  should  be  put  into  my  hands,  though  I  am  doubtful  of  the 
propriety  of  transmitting  them  home.  Still,  I  do  not  say  that  I 
would  decline  doing  so. 

Having  succeeded  in  accomplishing  nothing,  un- 
less it  were  to  verify  the  absurdity  of  his  Majesty's 
proposals  for  submission,  the  committee  returned 
to  Philadelphia  and  reported  the  result,  or  non-result, 
of  the  interview.  Here  the  matter  ended.  The 
Revolution  went  on. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE   MISSION   TO   FRANCE 


1776-1778 


ilOW  must  come  another  shifting  of  the 
scenes,  and  a  radical  one,  in  a  narra- 
tive which  has  already  been  as  full  of 
contrast,  perforce,  as  the  changing 
colours  of  a  kaleidoscope.      Old-fash- 


ioned Philadelphia,  with  its  galaxy  of  delegates, 
who  eventually  will  be  driven  from  the  town  by  the 
advance  of  the  British  forces,  must  give  way  to  the 
far  different  atmosphere  of  Paris — the  Paris  of  Louis 
XVI.  and  Marie  Antoinette,  of  Voltaire  and  De 
Beaumarchais,  of  tinsel  and  gaiety,  oppression  and 
poverty — the  Paris  under  which  is  smouldering  the 
fire  of  a  coming  revolution.  It  is  here,  at  the 
French  capital,  that  we  discover  this  very  Beaumar- 
chais working  for  the  freedom  of  America,  and  it  is 
here,  too,  that  some  of  the  most  famous  days  of 
Franklin's  closing  years  will  be  spent. 

To  speak  of  these  two  men  in  the  same  breath 
would  seem  nothing  short  of  paradoxical  were  it  not 
that,  for  the  nonce.  Fate  found  them  labouring,  each 

253 


254  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

in  his  own  peculiar  way,  for  the  same  great  cause. 
For  Beaumarchais,  the  brilHant,  the  adventurous, 
the  unstable,  saw  in  the  struggles  of  the  colonists 
just  enough  of  the  romantic  to  appeal  to  his  chame- 
leon-like, volatile  disposition.  The  man  who  had 
begun  life  as  an  obscure  but  clever  watchmaker,  and 
who  had  finally  penetrated  into  the  sacred  circle  of 
the  French  court,  there  to  enjoy  the  intimacy  of  the 
poor  King  Louis  and  to  receive  kind  words  and 
glances  from  Marie  Antoinette,  knew  so  much  of 
the  dash  and  picturesqueness  of  existence  that  the 
dangers,  the  uncertainties,  of  American  defiance  ex- 
erted for  him  an  undoubted  fascination.  That  he 
looked  upon  England  as  the  natural  foe  of  France 
made  his  sympathy  all' the  keener,  nor  was  he  slow 
to  point  out  to  his  sovereign  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived, selfish  and  sentimental,  from  any  aid  furnished 
the  insurgents  across  the  ocean.  It  was  an  idea  which 
had  occurred  to  other  Frenchmen,  but  it  had  not 
always  the  benefit  of  so  eloquent  an  advocate,  or  of 
one  so  near  the  ear  of  government,  as  the  Sieur  de 
Beaumarchais. 

The  ex-watchmaker  took  flying  trips  to  London, 
to  find  out  how  war  and  politics  were  going;  he 
drew  up  a  memorial  to  the  King,  which  he  entitled 

Peace  or  War, ' '  and  he  employed  all  his  plausibility 
to  convince  his  Majesty  and  the  Count  de  Ver- 
gennes.  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  that  the  time 
had  come  for  weakening  England  by  strengthening 
the  hand  of  her  rebellious  provinces.  It  was  the  only 
way  to  preserve  France  from  British  aggression,  he 
told  the  King,  for  "  if  England  triumphs,  they  will 


■UZUl/^  -ia^^^^At^  a^t^  -(%^<«<^    ''izu-n^  au^  (2lCl/ 


% 

'^U^. 


/i*ia^  ^^4^w^!e*u:^^  ^^/Huc'  V^oM  ciihm^  -w^ ttt/A^^K'  murf  u^i^  ■mc. 
./t«*t.ca  i>/^  ^-&^.^^  'i^H^ifiuH^  4i'4cJi^/y/H<^  iCivc  ex^^i^  /w- 


^^l^-^^A^/^^^e^^. 


FRANKLIN'S  CREDENTIALS  ^ 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  255 

seek  to  make  up  the  cost  necessary  for  such  a 
struggle  by  seizing  our  West  India  sugar  islands," 
while  "  if  America  conquers  the  English  will  try  to 
make  up  the  loss  of  some  of  her  American  colonies 
by  acquiring  all  of  ours."  He  further  informed  the 
monarch  that  Arthur  Lee  (who  had  succeeded  to 
Franklin's  agency  in  London,  where  he  was  now 
stationed  as  a  sort  of  private  emissary  for  Congress) 
"  offers  a  secret  treaty  of  commerce  in  exchange  for 
secret  help,"  finally  concluding  that  "  we  can  pre- 
serve peace  only  by  giving  aid  to  the  Americans; 
two  or  three  millions  may  save  us  our  sugar  islands, 
worth  three  hundred." 

At  last  Beaumarchais  won  the  day.  He  was  to 
be  the  medium  of  assisting  the  Americans,  but  the 
aid  should  be  given  stealthily,  and  in  a  peculiar 
manner.  So  much  the  more  attractive  became  the 
scheme  to  this  iridescent  individual;  to  let  him 
carry  it  out  in  a  mysterious  fashion  was  to  please 
his  sense  of  the  theatrical.  In  fine,  it  was  agreed, 
after  hesitation  and  discussion,  that  a  commercial 
house  should  be  established  in  Paris  with  a  capital 
of  two  millions  of  francs  (contributed  in  equal  parts 
by  France  and  Spain),  for  the  purpose  of  sending  to 
the  colonies  the  supplies  needed  in  the  maintenance 
of  the  war.  Ostensibly  the  business  was  to  be  a 
private  enterprise,  and  De  Vergennes  made  this  a 
sine  qua  non  with  Beaumarchais,  who  was  to  be  the 
head  of  the  new  house. 

"The  operation,"  said  the  Count,  "must  have  essentially  in  the 
eyes  of  the  English  Government,  and  even  in  the  eyes  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, the  aspect  of  an  individual  speculation,  to  which  we  are  Strang- 


256  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

ers.  That  it  may  be  so  in  appearance,  it  must  be  so  to  a  certain 
extent  in  reality.  We  will  give  you  secretly  a  million.  We  will 
endeavour  to  persuade  the  court  of  Spain  to  unite  in  giving  you  an- 
other. With  these  two  millions  you  shall  found  a  great  commercial 
establishment,  and  at  your  own  ribk  and  peril  you  shall  furnish  to 
America  arms  and  everything  else  necessary  to  sustain  war.  Our 
arsenals  will  deliver  to  you  arms  and  munitions,  but  you  shall  pay 
for  them.  You  will  not  demand  money  of  the  Americans,  for  they 
have  none  ;  but  you  can  ask  return  in  their  staple  products." 

The  project  was  hailed  with  dehght  by  the  spirited 
Beau  march  ai  s ;  it  promised  more  intrigue  than  the 
plot  of  his  recently  produced  comedy,  TJie  Barber 
of  Seville.  In  August  of  1776  a  new  firm,  bearing 
the  grandiloquent  name  of  "  Roderique  Hortalez  et 
Cie,"  put  up  its  sign  at  the  old  Hotel  de  Hollande, 
and  it  need  hardly  be  added  that  the  senior  partner 
who  installed  himself  in  the  building  was  not  a  Sefior 
Hortalez.  There  was  "  no  such  person  "  as  Senor 
Hortalez  ;  the  head  of  the  establishment  was  a  poetic 
and  uncommercial  gentleman,  who  thus  found  him- 
self, as  he  had  often  done  before,  in  a  very  interest- 
ing situation.* 

Where  was  the  less  romantic  Franklin  during  this 
little  court  conspiracy  ?  To  answer  that  question 
we  must  go  back  for  a  second  to  Philadelphia,  where 
some  time  before  (November  29,  1775),  the  doctor 
had  been  placed  on  a  committee  of  Congress,  from 
whose  labours  may  be  traced  the  course  of  events 
that  led  up  to  the  great  French  alliance.  As  this 
committee  was  authorised  to  carry  on  a  secret  cor- 
respondence "  with  friends  in  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 

*  See  Parton  ;  also  Franklin  in  France,  by  Edward  E.  Hale  and 
Edward  E.  Hale,  Jr. 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  257 

and  other  parts  of  the  world,"  and  to  find  out,  by 
the  employment  of  confidential  agents,  what  assist- 
ance America  might  expect  from  foreign  powers,  it 
is  self-evident  that  no  better  man  could  have  been 
chosen  to  head  it  than  the  astute  cx-agent  of  Lon- 
don. The  delicacy  of  the  task  appealed  to  him  ;  he 
was  soon  sending  despatches  to  Europe,  one  of 
which  w^as  addressed  to  his  Parisian  friend  and  ad- 
mirer, Dr.  Dubourg.  Then  came  a  bit  of  diplomacy 
of  the  kind  that  would  have  gladdened  the  heart  of 
the  far-away  Beaumarchais.  The  committee  chose 
Silas  Deane,  of  Connecticut,  to  make  a  quiet  trip 
to  Paris,  in  the  guise  of  an  inoffensive  American 
merchant,  and  to  find  out  how  much  of  practical 
friendship  and  support  the  colonies  might  expect 
from  the  government  of  Louis  XVL  So  Deane 
stole  away  one  day  in  April  (1776),  loaded  with  let- 
ters, cautions  from  Franklin,  and  some  invisible  ink 
wherewith  he  was  to  write  his  reports.  The  innocu- 
ous name  of  "  Timothy  Jones  "  would  be  af^xed  to 
such  of  his  letters  as  might  meet  the  public  eye,  and 
it  was  understood  that  he  should  go  so  far  in  his  in- 
cognito as  to  buy  a  cargo  or  so  of  goods,  in  the  hope 
of  drawing  wool  over  the  eyes  of  the  curious  by 
giving  to  his  character  of  merchant  the  semblance 
of  reality.  The  wool  was  not  very  thick,  as  it  came 
to  pass;  Mr.  Deane  was  soon  able  to  emerge  into 
the  light  of  day  and  to  pursue  his  labours  with  a 
trifle  less  circumspection.  The  new  condition  of 
things  might  not  be  as  thrilling  as  the  story  of  a 
future  "  revolutionary  novel,"  but  it  would  have 
compensations. 


258  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

In  September,  when  the  American  cause  seemed 
in  anything  but  a  brilliant  shape  from  the  military 
point  of  view,  and  when  the  necessity  of  aid  from 
France  was  becoming  more  and  more  apparent, 
Franklin  received  an  interesting  letter  from  the 
friendly  Dr.  Dubourg.  The  Frenchman,  as  he  in- 
formed his  "  dear  master,"  had  bestirred  himself 
valiantly  in  behalf  of  Congress  and  the  colonies. 

"  Knowing  that  the  United  States  had  pressing  need  of  a  certain 
kind  of  men,  and  a  certain  kind  of  provisions,"  he  wrote,  "  I  have 
exerted  myself  to  procure  both  the  one  and  the  other  for  her.  I  have 
knocked  (if  I  may  so  express  myself)  at  every  door  for  that  end  ;  I 
have  talked  vaguely  to  some,  enigmatically  to  others  ;  I  have  half 
confided  to  many  and  as  little  as  possible  have  I  wholly  confided  in 
anyone  whatever,  except  the  King's  ministers  and  a  nephew,  of 
whom  I  am  thoroughly  satisfied,  and  whom  I  have  drawn  from  his 
own  province  on  purpose  to  second  me  in  everything.  I  have  had 
the  satisfaction  of  being  well  received  in  every  quarter,  and  of  seeing 
that  no  one  demands  other  assurances  than  my  own  word  to  treat 
with  me  upon  affairs  of  the  greatest  consequence,  and  concerning 
which  I  freely  acknowledge  to  have  received  neither  full  power,  nor 
even  the  least  commission  or  instruction,  by  word  of  mouth  any 
more  than  by  letter.  Ministers  to  whom  I  have  never  made  my 
court  have  given  me  the  most  flattering  marks  of  confidence  from 
my  first  interview  ;  have  talked  to  me  without  winding  or  mystery  ; 
have  discussed  with  me  the  weightiest  matters  ;  and  have  deliberated 
with  me  the  plans  to  be  pursued,  and  the  means  to  accomplish  them. 
Private  individuals,  merchants,  military  men,  and  others,  have  at- 
tended without  scruple  to  take  from  me  conditional  arrangements, 
promising  to  execute  them  when  it  shall  be  required,  though  I  had 
declared  to  them,  on  my  part,  that  I  could  not  warrant  anything  at 
all  positively." 

Nothing  could  show  better  than  this  how  the  wind 
of  French  favour  was  blowing  towards  America. 

"  I  have  been  six  (and  three  times  more  in  the  latter  part  of  June) 
different  times  to  Versailles  within  a  month,"  continued  the  savant. 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  259 

"  to  see  not  only  the  ministers,  but  everyone  who  approaches  them 
or  continues  near  them,  and  to  sound  or  get  sounded  the  dispositions 
of  everyone  ;  for  it  must  not  be  thouglit  that  they  are  all  equally 
well-intentioned  ;  however,  I  wanted  to  draw  some  advantage  from 
all.  And,  in  fact,  though  I  had  rather  praise  some  than  others,  yet 
there  is  not  one  of  whom  I  could  complain  without  ingratitude." 

Dubourg  then  went  on  to  state  what  he  had  been 
able  to  accomplish  in  a  practical  way.  He  had  ob- 
tained from  the  royal  arsenals,  in  a  mysterious, 
roundabout  manner,  some  fifteen  thousand  muskets, 
and  he  could  have  secured  brass  cannon  after  the 
same  method  were  it  not  "  for  the  circumstance  of 
their  bearing  the  King's  arms  and  cipher,  which 
made  them  too  discoverable."  He  had  obtained 
long  furloughs  for  French  officers  of  artillery,  who 
might  come  over  to  America,  and  he  had  been  use- 
ful in  other  directions  of  a  warlike  nature.  His 
attachment  to  Franklin,  explained  the  enthusiastic 
Dubourg,  answered  sufficiently  for  his  devotion  to 
the  aims  of  Congress.  "  I  would  die  contented," 
he  said,  "  could  I  see  my  country  and  yours  in- 
timately united;  and  could  I  contribute  towards  it, 
I  should  be  at  the  summit  of  my  wishes." 

This  letter,  the  first  definite  news  which  had  come 
from  Paris  relative  to  the  kindly  disposition  of  the 
French  ministry — acted  on  Congress  as  a  pleasant 
stimulant  and  had  for  its  immediate  result  the  ap- 
pointment of  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  Silas  Deane 
as  envoys  to  the  court  of  King  Louis.  Jefferson 
was  obliged  to  decline  service  in  France,  owing  to 
the  illness  of  his  wife,  and  Arthur  Lee,  whose  jeal- 
ousy and  pettiness  of  spirit  were  to  give  the  philo- 
sopher many  a  weary  quarter  of  an  hour,  had  the 


26o  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

honour  of  being  elected  in  the  place  of  the  greater 
Virginian.  Lee  was  then  in  London.  As  for  our 
doctor,  he  never  for  an  instant  shirked  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  mission,  or  pleaded,  as  he  might  well 
have  done,  the  weight  of  his  seventy  years.  "  I  am 
old  and  good  for  nothing,"  he  said  to  Dr.   Rush, 

but  as  the  store-keepers  say  of  their  remnants  of 
cloth,  I  am  but  a  fag  end,  and  you  may  have  me  for 
what  you  please."  There  was,  of  course,  a  little 
affectation  of  modesty  in  such  a  speech.  Had 
Franklin  suspected  for  an  instant  that  he  was  so 
much  of  a  "  fag  end  "  as  to  be  of  no  more  use  to 
his  country  he  would  have  been  too  wise — too  proud, 
indeed — to  venture  once  again  upon  an  uncomfort- 
able ocean.  He  knew  that  there  was  yet  in  him  a 
deal  of  the  old-time  energy. 

After  having  shown  the  practical  quality  of  his 
patriotism  by  loaning  the  sorely  pressed  Congress 
the  substantial  sum  of  nearly  four  thousand  pounds, 
and  gladdened  by  the  secret  intelligence  that  France 
proposed  to  send  over  to  America  a  liberal  quantity 
of  arms  and  ammunition  ere  the  beginning  of  the 
next  campaign,  Dr.  Franklin  sailed  from  Marcus 
Hook  in  the  Reprisal,  a  swift  sloop-of-war.  Heaven 
alone  knew  when  or  how  he  would  return,  for  the 
outlook  for  America  was  far  from  radiant  ;  New 
York  was  in  the  power  of  the  British ;  there  seemed 
only  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  the  Revolution 
might  end  in  ignominious  collapse.  The  envoy  was 
accompanied  by  two  grandsons,  William  Temple 
Franklin  and  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache,  lads  who 
must  have  found  the  exciting  voyage  (enlivened  by 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  261 

the  inevitable  pursuit  of  the  sloop  by  English  cruis- 
ers and  by  the  Reprisal's  capture  of  two  prizes)  quite 
in  harmony  with  the  adventurous  ideals  of  unthink- 
ing youth.  To  the  grandfather,  the  attentions  of 
the  enemy  could  not  have  appeared  so  attractive ; 
yet  he  kept  up  a  characteristic  serenity,  made  some 
experiments  to  throw  new  light  on  the  presence  of 
the  Gulf  Stream,  and  arrived  at  Quiberon  Bay,  on 
the  29th  of  November,  so  fatigued  by  the  experience 
that  he  could  scarcely  stand.  He  had  reached  the 
cordial  atmosphere  of  France  not  a  whit  too  soon. 
Silas  Deane,  whose  abilities  were  not  of  a  kind  to 
move  mountains,  and  Arthur  Lee  were  sadly  in 
need  of  the  third  member  of  the  American  legation. 
To  Deane,  indeed,  the  path  of  diplomacy  had 
latterly  been  strewn  with  thorns ;  few  primroses 
were  to  be  found  growing  along  its  devious,  uncer- 
tain way.  Upon  his  arrival  at  Versailles  he  had 
secured  a  non-ofificial  interview  with  M.  de  Ver- 
gennes  (the  American  was  then  playing  the  opera- 
bouffe  r^/i?  of  conspirator,  or  merchant,  and  deceiving 
no  one),  and  was  assured  by  the  minister  that  France 
Avould  indirectly  aid  the  sending  of  war  supplies  to 
the  colonies,  but  that  for  the  present  she  could  do 
nothing  openly.  To  prevent  a  rupture  wath  Eng- 
land it  would  be  necessary  to  act  under  the  rose,  or 
to  pursue  what  we  might  irreverently  term  a  purely 
winking  policy.  Next,  the  fantastic  Beaumarchais 
appeared  on  the  scene ;  the  new  firm  of  Roderique 
Hortalez  and  Company  established  an  entente  cor- 
diale  with  the  envoy ;  the  comedy-writing  French- 
man   and    the    commonplace    Connecticut    lawyer 


262  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

became  bosom  friends ;  ere  long  merchandise  and 
warlike  stores  were  awaiting  shipment  to  America. 
The  pretended  Hortalez  revelled  in  the  situation, 
cultivated  an  air  of  comic  mystery,  and  acted  his 
part  with  much  light-and-airy  bravado,  but  his  mas- 
querade was  soon  discovered,  even  by  Lord  Stor- 
mont,  the  indignant  British  Ambassador.  The 
purposes  of  the  new  firm,  though  not  its  aid  from 
government,  were  apparent. 

"  From  a  Frenchman  that  I  was,"  Beaumarchais  relates,  "  I  be- 
came an  American  merchant,  a  politician,  and  a  writer.  I  imparted 
my  warmth  to  honest  but  timid  minds,  and  formed  a  society  under  a 
name  unknown.  I  gathered  together  merchandise  and  warlike 
stores  in  all  our  ports,  always  under  fictitious  names.  Your  agent 
[Deane]  was  to  have  provided  vessels  to  transport  them  to  America  ; 
but  not  one  could  he  find  ;  and  it  was  still  I  who,  with  double  zeal 
and  labour,  succeeded  in  procuring  them  for  him  at  Marseilles, 
Nantes,  and  Havre,  paying  out  of  my  own  pocket  two  thirds  of  the 
freight  in  advance,  and  finding  security  for  the  remainder.  The 
most  severe  orders  everywhere  thwarted  my  operations.  What  I 
could  not  accomplish  in  the  open  day,  was  executed  in  the  night.  If 
government  caused  my  vessels  to  be  unloaded  in  one  port,  I  sent 
them  secretly  to  re-load  at  a  distance  in  the  roads.  Were  they 
stopped  under  their  proper  names,  I  changed  them  immediately,  or 
made  pretended  sales,  and  put  them  anew  under  fictitious  commis- 
sions. Were  obligations  in  writing  exacted  from  my  captains  to  go 
nowhere  but  to  the  West  India  Islands,  powerful  gratifications  on  my 
part  made  them  yield  again  to  my  wishes.  Were  they  sent  to  prison 
on  their  return,  for  disobedience,  I  then  doubled  their  gratifications 
to  keep  their  zeal  from  cooling,  and  consoled  them  with  gold  for  the 
rigour  of  our  government.  Voyages,  messengers,  agents,  presents, 
rewards — no  expense  was  spared.  One  time,  by  reason  of  an  unex- 
pected counter-order,  which  stopped  the  departure  of  one  of  my  ves- 
sels, I  hurried  by  land  to  Havre  twenty-one  pieces  of  cannon,  which,  if 
they  had  come  from  Paris  by  water,  would  have  retarded  us  ten  days." 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  French  Govern- 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  26 


o 


ment  often  had  to  oppose,  for  political  reasons,  and 
at  the  behest  of  Lord  Stormont,  the  very  man  it 
desired  to  help.  Indeed,  it  was  not  until  after  many 
delays  and  hindrances  that  Beaumarchais  could  get 
his  stores  to  the  Americans. 

The  story  reads  like  a  romance,  and  the  matter- 
of-fact  Silas  Dcane  must  have  rubbed  his  amazed 
eyes  more  than  once  and  wondered  if  he  were  not  in 
a  dream.  There  were  times,  however,  when  stern 
reality  rather  than  visions  confronted  the  American. 
He  too  often  found  himself  without  mone}^  or  credit, 
unless  Beaumarchais  came  to  his  rescue ;  the  pros- 
pects for  an  open  alliance  with  France  began  to  grow 
ominously  dim;  the  British  Ambassador  lodged 
loud  complaints  with  Vergennes,  and  all  things 
pointed  towards  failure.  And  where  was  Arthur 
Lee  ?  Trying  to  sow  dissensions  and  sulking  be- 
cause Beaumarchais  had  made  of  Deane  so  intimate 
a  friend.  The  fictitious  Hortalez  had  shifted  his 
connection,  personal  and  commercial,  from  Lee  to 
Deane,  and  thereby  put  the  former  gentleman  in  a 
temper  from  which  he  never  recovered. 

Meanwhile  the  doctor  has  travelled  from  his  ship 
to  Nantes,  where  he  becomes  the  lion  of  the  day, 
and  from  which  place  he  writes  to  John  Hancock, 
the  President  of  Congress : 

"In  thirty  days  after  we  left  the  Capes  of  Delaware,  we  came  to 
an  anchor  in  Quiberon  Bay.  I  remained  on  board  four  days,  expect- 
ing a  change  of  wind  proper  to  carry  the  ship  into  the  river  Loire  ; 
but  the  wind  seemed  fixed  in  an  opposite  quarter.  I  landed  at  Aury, 
and  with  some  difficulty  got  hither,  the  road  not  being  well  supplied 
with  means  of  conveyance.  .  .  .  Our  friends  in  France  have 
been  a  good  deal  dejected  with  the  Gazette  accounts  of  advantages 


264  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

obtained  against  us  by  the  British  troops.  I  have  helped  them  here 
to  recover  their  spirits  a  little,  by  assuring  them,  that  we  still  face  the 
enemy,  and  were  under  no  apprehension  of  their  armies  being  able  to 
complete  their  junction.  I  understand  that  Mr.  Lee  has  lately 
been  at  Paris,  and  Mr.  Deane  is  still  there,  and  that  an  underhand 
supply  is  obtained  from  the  government  of  two  hundred  brass  field- 
pieces,  thirty  thousand  firelocks,  and  some  other  military  stores, 
which  are  now  shipping  for  America,  and  will  be  convoyed  by  a  ship 
of  war.  The  court  of  England  (M.  Penet  tells  me,  from  whom  I 
have  the  above  intelligence)  had  the  folly  to  demand  Mr.  Deane  to 
be  delivered  up,  but  were  refused.  Our  voyage,  though  not  long, 
was  rough,  and  I  feel  myself  weakened  by  it ;  but  I  now  recover 
strength  daily,  and  in  a  few  days  shall  be  able  to  undertake  the  jour- 
ney to  Paris.  I  have  not  yet  taken  any  public  character,  thinking  it 
prudent  first  to  know  whether  the  court  is  ready  and  willing  to  re- 
ceive ministers  publicly  from  the  Congress  ;  that  we  may  neither 
embarrass  it  on  the  one  hand,  nor  subject  ourselves  to  the  hazard 
of  a  disgraceful  refusal  on  the  other. " 

The  letter  is  purposely  cheerful  in  tone,  yet  it  would 
be  interesting  did  we  know  just  what  thoughts  were 
revolving,  as  Franklin  wrote,  in  that  fur-becapped 
head  of  his.  Did  he  think  the  Revolution  was  to 
end  in  triumph  or  in  a  hanging-party  ?  * 

Friendly  as  was  France  to  the  cause  of  the  colo- 
nies, the  newly  arrived  envoy  might  well  stop  to  in- 
quire as  to  the  intentions  of  the  court  and  ministers. 
He  came  as  the  representative  of  a  country  over 
which  Great  Britain  still  claimed  sovereignty,  and 
to  receive  him  publicly  might  bring  upon  the  gov- 
ernment of  Louis  XVI.  a  series  of  undesired  com- 


*  In  a  letter  written  about  a  month  later  to  Mrs.  Hewson,  Franklin 
says,  in  a  jocose  strain  :  "  Figure  to  yourself  an  old  man,  with  grey 
hair  appearing  under  a  martin  fur  cap,  among  the  powdered  heads  of 
Paris.  It  is  this  odd  figure  that  salutes  you,  with  handfuUs  of  bless- 
ings on  you  and  your  dear  little  ones." 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  265 

plications  with  their  neighbours  across  the  Channel. 
So  afraid,  indeed,  of  the  influence  and  ability  of  the 
doctor  was  Lord  Stormont  that  he  threatened  to 
leave  Paris  if  the  "  chief  of  the  American  rebels  " 
entered  the  city — a  threat  which  he  failed  to  keep. 
M.  de  Vergennes  evaded  the  situation,  or  perhaps 
it  is  more  correct  to  say  that  he  sat  upon  the  diplo- 
matic fence.  He  wished  to  give  a  sort  of  vague, 
unofificial  recognition  to  the  American  and  to  keep, 
at  the  same  time,  a  surface  peace  with  the  British 
Embassy.  More  than  that  he  could  not  do ;  an 
alliance  with,  or  an  open  recognition  of,  America  was 
out  of  the  question ;  her  star  had  risen,  as  it  seemed, 
only  to  be  soon  extinguished.  So  Vergennes  con- 
tented himself  with  assuring  Lord  Stormont  that 
a  courier  had  been  sent  to  meet  Franklin  and 
forbid  his  coming  to  the  capital;  but  he  added  that 
if,  by  a  mischance,  the  doctor  should  reach  Paris 
without  encountering  the  messenger,  the  govern- 
ment would  not  like  to  send  him  away,  "  because 
of  the  scandalous  scene  this  would  present  to  all 
France,  should  we  respect  neither  the  laws  of  nations 
nor  of  hospitalities."  With  that  my  Lord  Stormont 
had  to  be  content. 

Of  course  the  courier  never  put  in  an  appearance. 
Franklin  was  posting  from  Nantes  as  rapidly  as 
roads  and  the  rather  shaken  state  of  his  health  per- 
mitted, and  getting  on  his  way  a  taste  of  the  cuisine 
provided  by  provincial  inns.  In  one  of  these  host- 
elries,  says  Dame  Tradition,  he  heard  that  Gibbon, 
he  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
happened  to  be  a  fellow-guest,  so  he  politely  sent 


266  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

his  compliments  to  the  historian,  with  the  request 
for  his  agreeable  company  on  that  evening.  Mr. 
Gibbon,  we  are  told,  declined  to  meet  a  man  who 
had  revolted  against  his  King,  much  as  he  admired 
the  private  character  of  Franklin — a  snub  to  which 
the  latter  gentleman  responded  by  writing  to  the 
Englishman  that  "  though  Mr.  Gibbon's  principles 
had  compelled  him  to  do  without  the  pleasure  of  his 
conversation.  Dr.  Franklin  had  still  such  a  respect 
for  the  character  of  Mr.  Gibbon  as  a  gentleman  and 
historian  that  when,  in  the  course  of  his  writing  the 
history  of  the  decline  and  fall  oi  empires,  the  decline 
and  fall  of  the  British  Empire  should  come  to  be 
his  subject,  as  he  expected  it  soon  would,  Dr. 
Franklin  would  be  happy  to  furnish  him  with  ample 
materials  which  were  in  his  possession." 

The  philosopher  arrived  in  Paris  just  before  Christ- 
mas. It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  from  the 
moment  he  put  his  foot  in  the  gay  city  he  became  a 
public  idol.  He  did  not  as  yet  excite  any  enthusi- 
asm in  court  circles  (that  was  forbidden  by  the 
exigencies  of  politics  and  by  the  spying  policy  of  the 
British  Ambassador),  but  in  general  society,  in  the 
domain  of  science,  philosophy,  and  literature,  and 
with  the  populace,  the  great  "  Insurgent  "  became 
the  hero  of  the  hour.  So  great  was  his  versatility, 
so  varied  had  been  his  labours,  that  he  was  discussed 
in  the  wine-shops  as  well  as  in  the  salons ;  he  was 
written  about,  too,  in  an  almost  fulsome  vein,  and 
thrice  welcomed  for  his  wit,  learning,  devotion  to 
liberty,  and  possibly  for  his  perennial  success.  The 
Parisians,  then,  as  now,  loved  the  eclat  of  prosper- 


FRANKLIN    FOUND   BY   DIOGENES. 

FROM  AN  OLD  FRENCH  ENGRAVING. 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  267 

ity.  They  loved  oddity,  too,  and  to  them  Frankhn 
was  a  new  experience,  a  refreshing  contrast  to  the 
ordinary  mould  of  humanity.  Not  that  he  lacked 
polish  ox  savoir  fairc ;  but  he  came  as  a  breath  of 
bracing  air  from  a  new  country,  and  brought  with 
him  that  belief  in  democratic  ideals  which  was  fast 
coming  into  fashion  among  the  cognoscenti  of  Paris. 
As  a  novelty  for  a  novelty-seeking  people  he  was  a 
shining  mark. 

When  Franklin  retired  in  a  short  time  to  the 
suburb  of  Passy,  where  he  established  himself  in  a 
state  befitting  his  position,  and  discarded  just 
enough  of  the  much-vaunted  American  simplicity 
to  put  on  a  properly  luxurious  front  before  the  eyes 
of  France,  admiration  and  adulation  followed  him 
with  unrelenting  steps.  Men  and  women  paid  him 
their  homage,  and  hung  upon  his  words  as  some- 
thing to  be  treasured  and  repeated  for  the  benefit  of 
posterity.  His  portrait  became  the  vogue;  his  say- 
ings were  quoted  eagerly-;  and  his  appearance  at 
the  theatre  was  the  signal  for  applause. 

"  His  name  was  familiar  to  government  and  people,  to  Kings, 
courtiers,  nobility,  clergy,  and  philosophers,  as  well  as  plelieians,  to 
such  a  degree  that  there  was  scarcely  a  peasant  or  a  citizen,  a  valet 
de  chambre,  coachman  or  footman,  a  lady's  chambermaid  or  a  scul- 
lion in  a  kitchen,  who  was  not  familiar  with  it,  and  who  did  not  con- 
sider him  a  friend  to  human  kind.  When  they  spoke  of  him  they 
seemed  to  think  he  was  to  restore  the  golden  age."  f 


*  When  Franklin  was  asked  as  to  the  truth  of  an  assertion  made 
by  Lord  Stormont  he  answered,  "  No,  sir,  it  is  not  a  truth,  it  is  a 
Stormont " — a  saying  which  went  the  rounds  of  all  Paris,  and  made 
of  "  a  Stormont  "  the  polite  synonym  for  a  lie. 

f  John  Adams. 


268  Benjamin  Franklin  [177^ 

There  was  much  that  proved  delightful  in  all  this 
enthusiasm,  but  like  the  proverbial  cup  that  cheers 
without  intoxicating  it  did  not  destroy  the  equi- 
librium of  its  recipient.  Franklin  revelled,  after  a 
calm  fashion,  in  the  society  and  entertainment  of 
congenial  hosts,  but  he  never  forgot  that  he  had 
come  abroad  on  a  mission  of  the  most  serious  im- 
port. Hardly  had  he  been  a  week  in  Paris  before 
he  was  paying  a  very  quiet  visit  to  the  Count  de 
Vergennes,  in  company  with  Messrs.  Lee  and 
Deatie,  and  receiving  from  that  minister  assurances 
of  profound  esteem,  and  a  hint  that  France  would 
be  glad  to  help  America  in  any  way  short  of  break- 
ing the  existing  relations  with  Great  Britain.  Louis 
XVL  could  not  recognise  at  present  the  new  re- 
public, but  there  came  promise  of  a  secret  loan  to 
Congress  of  two  million  francs.  For  the  rest  Frank- 
lin could  only  work  and  watch  without  ceasing, 
arrange  with  Mr.  Deane  to  keep  up  the  latter's  ac- 
tivities with  the  romantic  Beaumarchais,  and  behave 
as  diplomatically  as  possible  to  the  ardent  French 
officers  who  came  to  the  doctor  sighing  for  commis- 
sions and  future  glory  in  the  American  army.  Thus 
events  slowly  dragged  along.  The  Marquis  de  La- 
fayette went  off  to  win  military  laurels  in  the  new 
world ;  Arthur  Lee  tried  to  visit  the  court  of  Spain 
to  sound  the  tocsin  of  an  alliance,  but  was  given  to 
understand  that  his  presence  in  Madrid  would  be- 
come an  embarrassment ;  and  off  across  the  Atlantic 
the  campaign  was  leading  on — the  fates  only  knew 
where.  The  good  philosopher  had  need  for  all  his 
wisdom  and  patience ;  he  put  on  a  merry  exterior 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  269 

when  he  dined  with  the  dear  duchesses  and  com- 
tesses  and  all  the  rest  of  the  smart  set;  he  wrote 
some  articles  to  keep  up  the  public  interest  in  the 
uncertain  affairs  of  the  colonies,  and  doubtless  had 
many  a  hard  word  to  say  in  private  of  the  bovine- 
headedness  of  the  storming  Stormont.  For  be  it  re- 
membered that  in  reply  to  two  letters  sent  by  the 
envoys  to  the  British  Ambassador,  concerning  the 
exchange  of  some  American  seamen  confined  at 
Portsmouth,  his  lordship  wrote:  "  The  King's  Em- 
bassador receives  no  application  from  rebels,  unless 
they  come  to  implore  His  Majesty's  mercy."  This 
letter,  which  bore  neither  date  nor  signature,  was 
returned  by  the  envoys  with  the  following  laconic 
remark:  "  In  answer  to  a  letter  which  concerns  some 
of  the  most  material  interests  of  humanity,  and  of 
the  two  nations.  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  of  America,  now  at  war,  we  received  the  in- 
closed indecent  paper,  as  coming  from  your  lordship, 
which  we  return,  for  your  lordship's  more  mature 
consideration."  The  "  little  postmaster"  had  a 
hand  in  shaping  that  document. 

Next  our  malevolent  friend  Arthur  Lee  looms  up 
like  some  honest  lago.  He  has  returned  from  Ber- 
lin, after  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  secure  for  his 
country  a  Prussian  alliance,  and  is  in  a  bad  humour 
which  grows  none  the  less  as  he  perceives  the  con- 
tinued adulation  bestowed  upon  his  venerable  col- 
league. He  finds  fault  with  Beaumarchais,  despises 
Deane,  cultivates  a  veiled  contempt  for  the  doctor, 
and  sets  himself  about  to  be  as  disagreeable  as  pos- 
sible at  a  time  when  harmony  in  the  legation  is  the 


270  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

thing  of  things  to  be  preserved.  He  writes  home 
accusing  Deane  of  dishonesty  and  FrankHn  of  in- 
ability and  senility,  and  while  frequently  dining  at 
the  table  of  the  latter  is  doing  all  he  can  to  under- 
mine him  with  the  members  of  Congress.  If  he  can 
get  his  two  fellow-envoys  removed  to  less  important 
courts  than  that  of  Versailles,  and  contrive  to  re- 
main where  he  now  is  as  an  independent  plenipoten- 
tiary, so  much  the  better.  In  the  meantime  he 
goes  on  sounding  discords  and  thinking  only  of  self- 
interest,  while  the  fate  of  his  country  is  hanging  in 
the  balance  and  the  heart  of  Franklin,  brave  as  it  is, 
beats  with  a  nervousness  born  of  hope  deferred. 
Nor  are  we  to  forget  that  it  was  this  marplot  who 
prevented  Congress  from  reimbursing  the  house  of 
"  Hortalez,"  by  representing  that  Beaumarchais 
and  Deane  were  seeking  to  line  their  private  purses. 
Of  the  internal  dissensions  to  which  the  conduct  of 
Lee  gave  Hse  in  the  Franklin  household  we  need 
not  speak;  the  picture,  save  for  one  majestic  figure 
in  the  foreground,  would  hardly  prove  alluring. 
Throughout  all  the  unpleasantness  Franklin  retained 
his  dignity,  and  old  as  he  then  was,  he  yet  lived 
long  enough  to  triumph  over  the  spleen  of  a  man 
whose  wild  ambition  outran  principle  or  talent. 

The  doctor  kept,  too,  the  nimbleness  of  wit  that 
made  him  a  veritable  joy  to  the  frequenters  of  the 
salons.  He  was  always  ready  with  an  answer,  and 
in  eagerness  to  hear  his  bon  mots  the  Parisians  were 
as  so  many  Boswells  to  a  Dr.  Johnson.  Once,  when 
playing  chess  with  the  old  Duchess  of  Bourbon,  the 
wary  republican  took  a  king  which  had  been  put 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  271 

into  prize,  "  Ah,"  cried  the  Duchess,  "  we  do  not 
take  kings  so !  "  "  We  do  in  America,"  said  the 
doctor.  On  another  occasion  he  upset,  by  an  un- 
expected method,  a  pet  theory  of  the  Abbe  Raynal. 
A  party  in  which  Frenchmen  and  Americans  were 
equally  represented  was  dining  one  day  at  Passy 
with  the  philosopher,  when  the  Abbe  began  to  wax 
eloquent  upon  the  degeneracy  of  animals,  including 
man,  on  the  American  continent.  "  Come,"  spoke 
up  the  host,  "  let  us  try  this  question  by  the  fact 
before  us.  We  are  here  one  half  Americans  and  one 
half  French,  and  it  happens  that  the  Americans  have 
placed  themselves  on  one  side  of  the  table,  and  our 
French  friends  are  on  the  other.  Let  both  parties 
rise,  and  we  will  see  on  which  side  nature  has  degen- 
erated." The  Abb6  was  "  a  mere  shrimp";  the 
other  Frenchmen  were  all  small  of  stature,  and  the 
American  guests  happened  to  be  men  of  height. 
The  experiment,  while  it  proved  nothing,  made  a 
good  story  to  tell  at  Monsieur  Raynal's  expense. 

As  the  autumn  of  1777  wore  on  the  prospects  for 
the  poor  colonies,  so  far  as  the  envoys  had  means 
of  judging,  were  getting  darker  and  darker.  Gen- 
eral Burgoyne  might  have  won  a  brilliant  victory  in 
America,  for  all  that  they  knew  to  the  contrary,  and 
despite  the  expectation  of  further  financial  help  from 
the  King,  American  affairs  were  not  proceeding  over 
well  in  France.  Then,  to  make  matters  worse,  came 
the  news  that  General  Howe  was  in  Philadelphia; 
the  outlook  was  as  black  as  night.  But  Franklin  hid 
his  fears,  as  was  his  wont,  and  when  an  Englishman 
said  to  him,  exultingly,  "  Well,  doctor,  Howe  has 


272  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

taken  Philadelphia,"  he  replied:  "  I  beg  your  par- 
don, sir,  Philadelphia  has  taken  Howe."  Soon  this 
continued  pluck  was  to  have  a  fitting  reward.  In 
the  beginning  of  December  there  came  to  Passy  a 
courier  who  bore  jubilant  despatches.  Franklin  lost 
for  a  second  his  usual  imperturbability.  "  Sir,"  he 
demanded,  ere  there  was  time  to  open  the  letters, 
"is  Philadelphia  taken?"  "Yes,"  cried  the 
courier,  "  but  I  have  greater  news  than  that;  Gen- 
eral Burgoyne  and  his  whole  army  are  prisoners  of 
war!  " 

The  glorious  news  found  its  way  through  Europe 
with  amazing  rapidity.  Wherever  England  had  an 
enemy  there  was  rejoicing.  The  people  of  Paris 
seemed  as  elated  as  if  they  had  won  the  victory 
themselves,  and  the  exultation  of  the  French  minis- 
try, prudently  expressed  as  it  was,  formed  a  refresh- 
ing contrast  to  the  gloom  of  tenacious  George  III., 
who  declared,  says  the  legend,  that  he  would  sell 
Hanover  and  all  his  private  estates  before  he  should 
desert  "  the  cause  of  his  loyal  American  subjects 
who  had  suffered  so  much  for  him."  The  time  for 
an  active  foreign  policy  had  arrived ;  it  was  not  long 
before  M.  de  Vergennes  was  sending  congratulatory 
messages  to  Passy,  and  actually  inviting  the  envoys 
to  revive  the  propositions,  which  they  had  hereto- 
fore made  in  vain,  for  an  alliance  with  King  Louis. 
Dr.  Franklin  quickly  responded  to  the  suggestion 
by  writing  out  the  necessary  memorial.  On  the 
1 6th  of  December,  M.  Gerard,  Secretary  of  the 
Council  of  State,  announced  to  the  expectant  house- 
hold at  Passy  that  the  King  had  decided,  after  care- 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  273 

ful  deliberation,  to  recognise  the  independence  of 
the  Americans,  and  to  make  with  them  "  a  treaty  of 
commerce,  and  a  second  treaty  for  an  eventual  treaty 
of  alliance."  The  compact  was,  however,  to  be 
kept  a  profound  secret  for  the  present,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  6th  of  February  that  the  happy  envoys 
had  the  honour  of  placing  their  names  on  the  treaties 
which  were  to  add  inspiration  to  America  and  estab- 
lish war  between  Great  Britain  and  his  Most  Christ- 
ian Majesty  of  France,  For  Franklin  the  moment 
was  triumphant,  and  he  showed  his  satisfaction  and 
the  clearness  of  his  memory  in  a  curiously  effective 
way.  When  he  signed  the  papers,  it  was  observed 
that  he  wore  the  famous  suit  of  Manchester  velvet 
wherein  he  was  clad  on  the  day  of  the  Privy  Council 
outrage.* 

A  more  resplendent  date,  suggesting  the  glitter 
of  court  costume,  the  charm  of  gorgeously  appar- 
elled femininity,  and  the  pomp  of  royalty,  is  the 


*  In  commerce  each  party  [to  the  treaties]  was  to  be  placed  on  the 
footing  of  the  most  favoured  nation.  The  King  of  France  promised 
his  good  offices  with  the  princes  and  powers  of  Barbary.  As  to  the 
fisheries,  each  party  reserved  to  itself  the  exclusive  possession  of  its 
own.  .  .  .  The  absolute  and  unlimited  independence  of  the 
United  States  was  described  as  the  essential  end  of  the  defensive  alli- 
ance ;  and  the  two  parties  mutually  engaged  not  to  lay  down  their 
arms  until  it  should  be  assured  by  the  treaties  terminating  the  war. 
Moreover,  the  United  States  guaranteed  to  France  the  possessions 
then  held  by  France  in  America,  as  well  as  those  which  it  might  ac- 
quire by  a  future  treaty  of  peace  ;  and,  in  like  manner,  the  King  of 
France  guaranteed  to  the  United  States  their  present  possessions  and 
acquisitions  during  the  war  from  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain  in 
North  America.  A  separate  and  secret  act  reserved  to  the  King  of 
Spain  the  power  of  acceding  to  the  treaties.— BANCROFT. 


2  74  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

20th  of  March,  1778.  It  is  a  red-letter  day  for 
America.  The  envoys  are  to  be  received  in  state  at 
Versailles;  the  treaties  will  be  officially  acknow- 
ledged. My  Lord  Stormont,  who  has,  of  course, 
known  for  some  time  of  the  existence  of  the  alliance, 
finds  his  usefulness  in  the  French  capital  at  an  end ; 
all  subterfuge  is  thrown  to  the  winds,  and  France 
emerges  into  the  field  as  an  open  abettor  of  America. 
Before  midsummer  Count  d'Estang  will  arrive  with 
his  friendly  fleet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware 
River,  and  from  then  until  the  little  episode  of  York- 
town  the  helping  hand  of  the  Gaul  will  be  stretched 
out  in  full  sight  of  the  British  ministers. 

On  this  20th  of  March,  then,  Franklin  put  on 
an  unostentatious  black  suit,  with  white  silk  stock- 
ings and  silver  buckles,  discarded  the  necessary  wig 
(it  is  said  that  the  one  ordered  for  the  occasion  was 
too  small  for  his  head,  and  was  thrown  away  by  the 
disgusted  hair-dresser),  and  in  company  with  the 
other  two  envoys  —  who  paled  into  insignificance 
whenever  they  appeared  with  their  senior  —  pro- 
ceeded in  state  to  Versailles.  The  three  gentlemen, 
together  with  William  Lee  and  Ralph  Izard,  the  un- 
received  American  ministers  to  Berlin  and  Tuscany, 
respectively,  were  duly  presented  to  Louis  XVI., 
who  would  have  taken  a  more  heartfelt  interest  in 
the  ceremonial  had  it  not  gone  against  the  royal 
grain  to  smile  upon  republicanism.  He  had  yielded 
for  reasons  of  state,  but  he  could  not  forget  that  in 
aiding  the  Americans  he  was  likewise  aiding  enemies 
of  a  royal  authority  akin  to  his  own.  Perhaps,  even 
then,  he  had  a  vague  premonition  that  this  would 


I77S]  The  Mission  to  France  275 

not  be  his  only  experience  with  the  relentless  march 
of  Revolution. 

Yet  the  King  was  polite  enough.  In  addressing 
the  envoys  he  was  graciously  pleased  to  say  that  he 
wished  Congress  to  be  assured  of  his  friendship,  and 
that  he  was  highly  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the 
plenipotentiaries  during  their  residence  in  his  king- 
dom. The  ceremony  was  witnessed  by  a  brilliant 
gathering  ;  there  was  much  enthusiasm,  and  the 
affair  ended  with  an  elaborate  dinner  given  by  M. 
de  Vergennes.  Throughout  it  all  Franklin,  and 
only  Franklin,  had  been  the  real  attraction ;  his  was 
the  leading  part;  his  was  the  honour.  Arthur  Lee 
must  have  eaten  out  his  heart  in  impotent  jealousy 
at  the  popularity  of  the  man  who  w^ent  to  court 
with  as  much  confidence  and  aplomb  as  if  he  had 
not,  in  his  dressing,  violated  the  awesome  rules  of 
royal  etiquette. 

In  the  evening,  after  the  presentation  to  the  King, 
the  envoys  had  the  honour  of  watching  members  of 
the  reigning  family  play  at  cards  for  very  high 
stakes.  Louis  d'ors  were  scattered  in  profusion  over 
a  large  table  at  which  sat,  among  others,  the  still 
lovely  Marie  Antoinette.  The  Queen  had  a  gen- 
erous, if  unthinking,  sympathy  for  the  American 
rebels.  When  she  saw  the  doctor  enter  she  asked 
him  to  stand  near  her;  spoke  to  him  often  in  the 
most  civil  terms,  and  flashed  upon  the  white-haired 
diplomat  many  a  smile  that  must  have  gone  straight 
to  his  youthful  heart.  Poor  Richard  was  indeed  the 
fashion.  The  taste  for  reckless  gambling  hardly  ap- 
pealed to  the  preacher  of  frugality,  yet  we  may  be 


276  Benjamin  Franklin  [1776- 

sure  that  he  comported  himself  with  the  dignity  of 
a  courtier.  Wigless  he  might  be — but  not  witless ; 
the  apostle  of  the  new  regime  had  that  within  him 
which  appeared  passing  pleasant  in  the  eyes  of  the 
fairest  member  of  a  dying  despotism.  It  was,  in  fine, 
the  ability  of  Franklin  to  appear  agreeable  to  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  humanity,  without  being  under 
the  necessity  of  changing  his  manners  or  of  divest- 
ing himself  of  an  interesting  personality.  He  had 
long  been  master  of  the  useful  art  of  self-possession, 
to  which  he  combined  a  delicacy  of  tact  and  a  quick- 
ness of  apprehension  that  allowed  him  to  feel  at 
home  either  in  a  printer's  office  or  in  a  king's  dress- 
ing-room. There  is  nothing  paradoxical  in  the 
thought  of  the  philosopher  hovering  near  the  chair 
of  Marie  Antoinette,  nor  is  it  hard  to  understand 
how  he  could  number  among  his  admirers  two  such 
opposite  personages  as  the  Queen  of  France  and  the 
aged  Voltaire.  Voltaire  embraced  the  doctor  to 
the  joy  of  the  French  Academicians  of  Science; 
ladies  of  the  court  crowned  him  with  a  wreath  of 
flowers. 

With  a  little  lessening  of  the  old  vigour,  with  a 
longing  for  a  richly  deserved  ease,  was  it  strange 
that  the  envoy  found  this  burning  of  popular  in- 
cense very  fragrant  and  innocently  seductive  ?  Who 
had  a  greater  right  than  he  to  so  pretty  a  reward  ? 
To  be  sure,  John  Adams,  when  he  arrived  in  Paris 
to  replace  Silas  Deane,  was  a  trifle  shocked  at  the 
worship  bestowed  upon  the  idol,  and  perhaps  shook 
his  patriotic  head  over  what  he  might  consider  the 
demoralisation  of  a  gouty  old  man  who  should  be 


MARIE    ANTOINETTE. 


1778]  The  Mission  to  France  277 

back  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  there  preparing 
his  last  will  and  testament. 

"  He  loves  his  ease,"  the  New  Englander  writes  to  Samuel  Adams, 
"hates  to  offend,  and  seldom  gives  any  opinion  till  ol^liged  to  do  it. 
.  .  .  There  are  so  many  private  families,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
that  he  visits  so  often,  and  they  are  so  fond  of  him,  that  he  cannot 
well  avoid  it, — and  so  much  intercourse  with  Academicians,  that  all 
these  things  together  keep  his  mind  in  a  constant  state  of  dissipation." 

All  of  which  might  be  true,  yet  there  is  about  this 
pen-sketch  more  of  acerbity  than  charity. 

Amid  all  this  "  constant  state  of  dissipation," 
America — stronger  America  now,  full  of  life  and 
fight, and  hope — was  still  Franklin's  leading  thought. 
Not  only  of  the  America  of  his  own  time  did  he 
muse ;  his  fancy  sometimes  carried  him  away  to  the 
country  as  it  would  be  after  he  had  paid  the  rapidly 
maturing  debt  of  nature. 

"  I  must  soon  quit  this  scene,"  he  writes  to  General  Washington, 
"  but  you  may  live  to  see  our  country  flourish,  as  it  will  amazingly 
and  rapidly  after  the  war  is  over  ;  like  a  field  of  young  Indian  corn 
which  long  fair  weather  and  sunshine  has  enfeebled  and  discoloured, 
and  which  in  that  weak  state,  by  a  thunder  gust  of  violent  wind,  hail, 
and  rain,  seemed  to  be  threatened  with  absolute  destruction  ;  yet  the 
storm  being  past,  it  recovers  fresh  verdure,  shoots  up  with  double 
vigour,  and  delights  the  eye,  not  of  its  owner  only,  but  of  every 
observing  traveller." 

Franklin  prophesied,  as  he  builded,  better  than  he 
knew. 


CHAPTER  XI 

PLAY   AND   POLITICS 

1 777-1 783 

O  read  over  the  correspondence  which 
punctuated  FrankHn's  Hfe  in  France 
is  to  regret  that  a  volume  rather  than 
several  short  paragraphs  cannot  be 
devoted  to  the  lighter  phase  of  the 
philosopher's  exile,  wherein  we  see  him  acting  the 
gallant  to  clever  women,  and  settling  down,  ere  he 
should  leave  the  earthly  scene  forever,  to  warm  his 
cheery  old  heart  and  gouty  limbs  in  the  sunshine  of 
enjoyment.  Here  again  appears  the  versatility  of 
the  man.  One  day  he  is  writing  upon  subjects  the 
most  abstruse  or  the  most  grave,  and  at  another 
time  he  is  gaily  describing  a  fantastic  dream  for  the 
edification  of  the  blue-stocking  widow  of  the  great 
Helvetius.  "  Mortified  at  the  barbarous  resolution 
pronounced  by  you  so  positively  yesterday  even- 
ing, that  you  would  remain  single  the  rest  of  your 
life,  as  a  compliment  due  to  the  memory  of  your 
husband,  I  retired  to  my  chamber.  Throwing  my- 
self upon  my  bed,  I  dreamt  that  I  was  dead,  and  was 

278 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  279 

transported  to  the  Elysian  Fields."  Then  follows 
the  dream,  which  is  described  with  a  grace  and  airy 
humour  more  suggestive,  let  us  say,  of  a  Beaumar- 
chais  than  of  the  usually  matter-of-fact  Franklin. 

Another  day  he  resuscitates,  for  the  benefit  of  his 
friend  Monsieur  1' Abbe  de  la  Roche,  a  "  little  drink- 
ing song  which  I  wrote  forty  years  ago,"  wherein 
are  to  be  found  allusions  to  Venus,  Lucifer,  and  the 
joys  of  "  friends  and  a  bottle."  It  is  quite  in  the 
style  of  (although  more  grammatically  expressed 
than)  the  inevitable  ditty  rattled  off,  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  clinking  tin  cups,  by  a  sad-eyed  chorus 
in  comic  operetta.  Then  he  has  another  attack  of 
gallantry,  and  tells  his  dear  Madame  Helvetius  that 
statesmen,  philosophers,  historians,  poets,  and  men 
of  learning  of  all  sorts  are  drawn  around  her  "  as 
straws  about  a  fine  piece  of  amber."  Yet  he  is  the 
correspondent  who  can  write,  almost  in  the  same 
breath:  "  When  a  religion  is  good,  I  conceive  that 
it  will  support  itself;  and  when  it  cannot  support 
itself,  and  God  does  not  take  care  to  support  it,  so 
that  its  professors  are  obliged  to  call  for  the  help  of 
the  civil  power,  it  is  a  sign,  I  apprehend,  of  its  being 
a  bad  one."  *  The parsijleur  and  the  thinker  upon 
religion,  all  in  one !  What  pleasure  he  gets  from  the 
pen;  how  the  using  it  so  frequently  keeps  him  fresh 
and  young,  besides  leaving  many  an  agreeable  liter- 
ary tid-bit  for  posterity! 

When  he  has  the  gout  he  finds  distraction  from 
the  pain  by  composing  a  little  dialogue  between 
himself  and  his  tormentor,  which  incidentally  gives 
*  From  a  letter  to  Richard  Price, 


28o  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

us   a   glimpse    of   his   mode    of    life    at    seductive 
Passy. 

"  You  would  not  only  torment  my  body  to  death,"  says  the  doctor 
to  Madam  Gout,  "but  ruin  my  good  name;  you  reproach  me  as  a 
glutton  and  a  tippler ;  now  all  the  world,  that  knows  me,  will  allow 
that  I  am  neither  the  one  nor  the  other." 

Gout.  The  world  may  think  as  it  pleases  ;  it  is  always  very 
complaisant  to  itself,  and  sometimes  to  its  friends ;  but  I  very  well 
know  that  the  quantity  of  meat  and  drink  proper  for  a  man  who 
takes  a  reasonable  degree  of  exercise,  would  be  too  much  for  another, 
who  never  takes  any. 

Franklin.  I  take  —  eh  —  oh!  as  much  exercise  —  eh!  {here 
a  twinge  of  pain  seizes  him)  as  I  can,  Madam  Gout.  You  know  my 
sedentary  state,  and  on  that  account  it  would  seem,  Madam  Gout,  as 
if  you  might  spare  me  a  little,  seeing  it  is  not  altogether  my  own 
fault. 

Gout.  Not  a  jot ;  your  rhetoric  and  your  politeness  are  thrown 
away  ;  your  apology  avails  nothing.  If  your  situation  in  life  is  a 
sedentary  one,  your  amusements,  your  recreations,  at  least,  should  be 
active.  You  ought  to  walk  or  ride  ;  or,  if  the  weather  prevents  that, 
play  at  billiards.  But  let  us  examine  your  course  of  life.  While  the 
mornings  are  long,  and  you  have  leisure  to  go  abroad,  what  do  you 
do?  Why,  instead  of  gaining  an  appetite  for  breakfast,  by  salutary 
exercise,  you  amuse  yourself  with  books,  pamphlets,  or  newspapers, 
which  commonly  are  not  worth  the  reading.  Yet  you  eat  an  inor- 
dinate breakfast,  four  dishes  of  tea,  with  cream,  and  one  or  two  but- 
tered toasts,  with  slices  of  hung  beef,  which  I  fancy  are  not  things 
the  most  easily  digested.  Immediately  afterward  you  sit  down  to 
write  at  your  desk,  or  converse  with  persons  who  apply  to  you  on 
business.  Thus  the  time  passes  till  one,  without  any  kind  of  bodily 
exercise.  But  all  this  I  could  pardon,  in  regard,  as  you  say,  to  your 
sedentary  condition.  But  what  is  your  practice  after  dinner?  W^alk- 
ing  in  the  beautiful  gardens  of  those  friends,  with  whom  you  have 
dined,  would  be  the  choice  of  men  of  sense  ;  yours  is  to  be  fixed 
down  to  chess,*  where  you  are  found  engaged  for  two  or  three  hours. 

*  "  Dr.  Franklin  was  so  immoderately  fond  of  chess,  that  one 
evening  at  Passy,  he  sat  at  that  amusement  from  six  in  the  afternoon 
till  sunrise." — William  Temple  Frank^in, 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  281 

The  doctor  had  diagnosed  his  own  case  in  this  bit 
of  pleasantry  born  of  pain,  but  he  never  did  very 
much  in  the  way  of  reforming  the  sedentary  ways. 
The  routine  of  his  French  Hfe  was  too  attractive ;  his 
venerable  legs  had  grown  too  lazy ;  it  was  far  easier 
to  play  chess,  or  to  entertain  at  his  own  table,  or 
drive  to  the  no  longer  youthful  Veuve  Helvctius  or 
to  the  amiable  Madame  Brillon — "  a  lady  of  most 
respectable  character  and  pleasing  conversation." 
At  the  Brillons  the  septuagenarian  found  a  second 
home,  where  he  was  accustomed  to  spend  at  least 
two  evenings  every  week.  Madame  Brillon,  he 
writes,  **  has  among  other  elegant  accomplishments, 
that  of  an  excellent  musician ;  and,  with  her  daugh- 
ter, who  sings  prettily,  and  some  friends  who  play, 
she  kindly  entertains  me  and  my  grandson  with  little 
concerts,  a  cup  of  tea,  and  a  game  of  chess.  I  call 
this  my  Opera,  for  I  rarely  go  to  the  Opera  at  Paris." 
This  is  quite  an  idyllic  portrait  of  the  lady  in  whose 
honour  he  composed  several  of  his  famous  Bai^^atcllcs, 
including  The  EpJieniera  and  the  Story  of  the  Whistle. 
The  latter  was  elevated  years  ago  to  the  dignity  of  a 
classic.  Who  does  not  recall  the  familiar  cases  of  the 
unfortunates  who  paid  too  much  for  their  whistles  ? 

The  philosopher  not  only  wrote  much  while  at 
Passy,  but  he  unwittingly  inspired  several  of  his 
neighbours  to  try  their  own  literary  powers  by  com- 
posing verses  in  his  praise.  On  one  memorable  oc- 
casion he  was  made  the  victim — perhaps  not  a  very 
bored  one — of  2i  fete  ehanipetre  and  a  poem,  thrust 
upon  him  by  the  admiring  Countess  d'Houdetot,  at 
her  chateau  in  the  valley  of   Montmorency.     The 


282  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

assembled  guests,  all  members  of  the  Houdetot 
family,  did  not  even  wait  for  the  doctor's  arrival, 
but  walked  out  about  half  a  mile  to  meet  his  car- 
riage. The  Countess  helped  him  to  alight,  and 
broke  out  with  a  rhapsodic  verse  setting  forth  the 
homage  due  a  man  who  had  made  his  fellow-citizens 
so  happy  ("  Au  mortel  qui  forma  des  citoyens 
heureux  ").  When  the  chateau  was  reached,  din- 
ner served,  and  the  first  glass  of  wine  offered,  the 
company  continued  the  poetic  infliction  by  singing 
in  chorus  another  instalment  wherein  the  guest  of 
honour  was  referred  to  intimately  as  "  Benjamin." 
Then  the  Countess  sang  a  verse  which  politely  set 
forth  that  virtue  herself,  in  order  to  be  adored,  had 
assumed  the  form  of  Franklin;  others  drank  to  the 
philosopher  and  recited  each  a  stanza  of  the  epic, 
and  finally,  when  dinner  was  ended,  the  Countess 
led  the  doctor  to  the  gardens  of  Sanoy.  Here, 
seated  in  Arcadian  state  under  an  arbour,  he  was 
presented  with  a  Virginia  locust  tree,  "  which,  at 
the  request  of  the  company,  he  planted  with  his 
own  hands."  To  make  the  ceremony  the  more  im- 
pressive the  Countess  burst  forth  with  another  piece 
of  the  inevitable  poem  (afterwards  inscribed  upon  a 
marble  pillar  near  the  locust  tree),  and  ere  the  guest 
could  tear  himself  regretfully  away,  at  eventide,  the 
good  lady  followed  him  to  the  door  of  his  carriage, 
speaking  a  little  epilogue,  also  of  her  own  composi- 
tion : 

"  Legislateur  d'un  monde,  et  bienfaiteur  des  deux, 
L'homme  dans  tous  les  temps  te  devra  ses  hommages  ; 
Et  je  m'acquitte  dans  ces  lieux 
Pe  la  dette  de  tous  les  ages," 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  283 

All  of  which  is  very  pretty  without  doubt,  but  we 
must  not  forget,  amid  all  this  atmosphere  of  pane- 
gyric and  private  pleasures,  to  recall  briefly  the 
political  life  of  Franklin  from  the  time  that  the 
French  alliance  was  avowed  in  so  open  and  brilliant 
a  form.  Not  the  least  interesting  phase  of  his  ex- 
perience proved  to  be  the  attempt  of  several  mem- 
bers of  Parliament  to  find  out  from  him  whether 
there  was  any  possibility  of  reconciliation  with 
America.  To  one  of  these  Englishmen,  David 
Hartley,  the  envoy  wrote  that  famous  letter  in  reply 
to  the  curious  remark,  that  the  alliance  between 
France  and  America  was  "  the  great  stumbling- 
block  in  the  way  of  making  peace."  It  is  a  letter 
which  shows  us  how  the  once  ardent  admiration  for 
George  III.,  the  "  very  best  "  of  kings,  had  gone 
the  way  of  vain  illusions. 

"We  know,"  says  Franklin,  "that  your  King  hates  Whigs  and 
Presbyterians;  that  he  thirsts  for  our  blood,  of  which  he  has  already 
drunk  large  draughts  [obstinate,  and  worse,  the  King  surely  was, 
but  to  paint  him  as  a  melodramatic  yearner  after  blood  is  hardly  just 
on  the  doctor's  part]  ;  that  weak  and  unprincipled  ministers  are  ready 
to  execute  the  wickedest  of  his  orders,  and  his  venal  Parliament 
equally  ready  to  vote  them  just.  Not  the  smallest  appearance  of  a 
reason  can  be  imagined,  capable  of  inducing  us  to  think  of  relinquish- 
ing a  solid  alliance  with  one  of  the  most  amiable,  as  well  as  most 
powerful  princes  of  Europe,  for  the  expectation  of  unknown  terms  of 
peace,  to  be  afterwards  offered  to  us  by  such  a  govrnment ;  a  gov- 
ernment, that  has  already  shamefully  broken  all  the  compacts  it  ever 
made  with  us.  This  is  worse  than  advising  us  to  drop  the  substance 
for  the  shadow.  The  dog,  after  he  found  his  mistake,  might  possi- 
bly have  recovered  his  mutton  ;  but  we  could  never  hope  to  be  trusted 
again  by  France,  or  indeed  by  any  other  nation  under  heaven.  We 
know  the  worst  you  can  do  to  us,  if  you  have  your  wish,  is,  to  con- 
fiscate our  estates  and  take  our  lives,  to  rob  and  murder  us  ;  and  this 


284  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

you  have  seen  we  are  ready  to  hazard,  rather  than  come  again  under 
your  detested  government." 

The  writer  had  no  desire  to  fasten  any  of  this 
criticism  upon  the  peace-loving  Hartley,  and  he 
adds: 

"You  must  observe,  my  dear  friend,  that  I  am  a  little  warm. 
Excuse  me.  It  is  over.  Only  let  me  counsel  you  not  to  think  of 
being  sent  hither  on  so  fruitless  an  errand,  as  that  of  making  such  a 
proposition.  It  puts  me  in  mind  of  the  comic  farce  entitled,  God- 
send;  or.  The  Wreckers.  You  may  have  forgotten  it ;  but  I  will 
endeavour  to  amuse  you  by  recollecting  a  little  of  it." 

This  is  the  "  comic  farce,"  as  Franklin  gives  it 
for  Hartley's  edification: 

Scene. — Mount's  Bay. 

(A  ship  riding  at  anchor  in  a  great  storm.  A  lee  shore  full  of 
rocks,  and  lined  with  people,  furnished  with  axes  and  carriages  to  cut 
up  wrecks,  knock  the  sailors  on  the  head,  and  carry  off  the  plunder  ; 
according  to  custom.) 

First  Wrecker.  This  ship  rides  it  out  longer  than  I  expected  ; 
she  must  have  good  ground  tackle. 

Second  Wrecker.  We  had  better  send  off  a  boat  to  her,  and 
persuade  her  to  take  a  pilot,  who  can  afterward  run  her  ashore, 
where  we  can  best  come  at  her. 

Third  Wrecker.  I  doubt  whether  the  boat  can  live  in  this 
sea  ;  but  if  there  are  any  brave  fellows  willing  to  hazard  themselves 
for  the  good  of  the  public,  and  a  double  share,  let  them  say  "  Ay," 

Several  Wreckers.  I,  I,  I,  I.  {The  boat  goes  off,  and  comes 
under  the  ship's  stern.) 

Spokesman.     So  ho,  the  ship,  a  hoa  ! 

Captain.     Hulloa. 

Sp.     Would  you  have  a  pilot  ? 

Capt.     No,  no  ! 

Sp.     It  blows  hard,  and  you  are  in  danger. 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  285 

Capt.      I  know  it. 

Sp.  Will  you  buy  a  better  cable  ?  We  have  one  in  the  boat 
here. 

Capt.     What  do  you  ask  for  it  ? 

Sp.  Cut  that  you  have,  and  then  we  '11  talk  about  the  price  of 
this. 

Cai'T.  I  shall  do  no  such  foolish  thing.  I  have  lived  in  your 
parish  formerly,  and  know  the  heads  of  ye  too  well  to  trust  ye  ;  keep 
off  from  my  cable  there  ;  I  see  you  have  a  mind  to  cut  it  yourselves. 
If  you  go  any  nearer  to  it,  I  '11  fire  into  you  and  sink  you. 

Sp.  It  is  a  rotten  Frencli  cable,  and  will  jiart  of  itself  in  half 
an  hour.  Where  will  you  be  then.  Captain?  You  had  better  take 
our  offer. 

Capt.  You  offer  nothing,  you  rogues,  but  treachery  and  mis- 
chief. My  cable  is  good  and  strong,  and  will  hold  long  enough  to 
baulk  all  your  projects. 

Sp.  You  talk  unkindly.  Captain,  to  people  who  come  here  only 
for  your  good. 

Capt.  I  know  you  come  for  all  our  goods,  but,  by  God's  help, 
you  shall  have  none  of  them  :  you  shall  not  serve  us  as  you  did  the 
Indiamen. 

Sp.  Come,  my  lads,  let 's  be  gone.  This  fellow  is  not  so  great 
a  fool  as  we  took  him  to  be. 

In  comparing  the  English  ministry  to  a  party  of 
wreckers  Franklin  may  have  been  unnecessarily 
severe;  yet  he  was  justified  in  growing  indignant 
when  a  sane  Englishman  suggested  a  breaking  of 
the  French  treaties,  and  a  return  to  the  uncertain 
mercies  and  condescensions  of  George  III.  and  his 
Parliament.  This  was  not  the  only  chance  the  en- 
voy had  for  plain  writing  upon  the  subject  of  im- 
possible reconciliations.  Once  a  paper  addressed 
to  him  was  throw^n  into  a  window  of  the  legation ; 
upon  examination  it  proved  to  be  a  letter  signed 

Charles  de  Weissenstein,"  dated  from  Brussels, 
June  i6  (1778),  and  containing  a  fantastic  plan  for 


286  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

settling  the  war,*  with  suggestions  for  pensioning 
off  the  leading  patriots,  and  for  the  creating  of 
American  peers.  The  paper  was  taken  with  much 
seriousness.  Frankhn,  who  beheved  that  it  had 
been  inspired  by  King  George,  wrote  an  answer 
which  was  expected  to  bring  the  blood  tingling  into 
the  royal  ears.  As  it  happened,  the  answer  never  was 
sent  to  "  Weissenstein,"  but  it  has  been  preserved 
for  us  in  the  great  mass  of  Frankliniana,  and  we 
cannot  easily  forget  this  unmistakable  dig  at  the 
political  morals  of  his  Britannic  Majesty: 

"  I  now  indeed  recollect  my  being  informed,  long  since,  when  in 
England,  that  a  certain  very  great  personage,  then  young,  studied 
much  a  certain  book,  called  Arcana  Imperii.  I  had  the  book  and 
read  it.  There  are  sensible  and  good  things  in  it,  but  some  bad 
ones ;  for,  if  I  remember  rightly,  a  particular  King  is  applauded  for 
his  politically  exciting  a  rebellion  among  his  subjects,  at  a  time  when 
they  had  not  strength  to  support  it,  that  he  might,  in  subduing  them, 
take  away  their  privileges,  which  were  troublesome  to  him  ;  and  a 
queslion  is  formally  stated  and  discussed.  Whether  a  prince^  who,  to 
appease  a  revolt,  makes  promises  of  indemniiv  to  the  revoliers,  is 
obliged  to  fulfil  those  promises.  Honest  and  good  men  would  say, 
Ay  ;  but  this  politician  says,  as  you  say.  No." 

And  again  the  writer  says,  in  pointed  terms: 

"This  offer  to  corrupt  us,  sir,  is  with  me  your  credential,  and  con- 
vinces me  that  you  are  not  a  private  volunteer  in  your  application.  It 
bears  the  stamp  of  British  court  character.  It  is  even  the  signature 
of  your  King." 


*  In  case  his  Majesty,  or  his  successors,  should  ever  create  Ameri- 
can peers  (so  wrote  the  unknown  peacemaker),  then  Franklin,  Wash- 
ington, John  Adams,  Hancock,  and  others,  "shall  be  among  the 
first  created,  if  tliey  choose  it ;  Mr.  Washington  to  have  immediately 
a  brevet  of  Lieutenant-General,  and  all  the  honours  and  precedence 
incident  thereto,  but  not  to  assume  or  bear  any  command  without  a 
special  warrant,  or  letter  of  service,  for  that  purpose,  from  the  King." 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  287 

Weissenstein,"  the  inscrutable,  had  advised 
Franklin  that  the  reply  must  be  given  to  a  stranger 
who  would  be  found  on  a  certain  Monday  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  and  who  was  to  wear  a 
rose  in  his  hat  by  way  of  identification.  The  tryst 
was  not  kept ;  the  letter  was  held  back  in  deference 
to  the  wishes  of  the  French  Government.  John 
Adams  (who  was  now  duly  established  in  the  lega- 
tion as  the  successor  to  Silas  Deane)  relates  that 
the  day  after  the  one  appointed  for  the  meeting  M. 
de  Vergennes  sent  a  police  report,  stating  that  at 
the  hour  and  place  suggested  by  the  mysterious  cor- 
respondent "  a  gentleman  appeared,  and  finding 
nobody,  wandered  about  the  church,  gazing  at  the 
statues  and  pictures,  and  other  curiosities  of  that 
magnificent  cathedral,  never  losing  sight,  however, 
of  the  spot  appointed,  and  often  returning  to  it, 
looking  earnestly  about,  at  times,  as  if  he  expected 
somebody.  His  person,  stature,  figure,  air,  com- 
plexion, dress,  and  everything  about  him  were  ac- 
curately and  minutely  described.  He  remained  two 
hours  in  the  church,  and  then  went  out,  was  fol- 
lowed through  every  street,  and  all  his  motions 
watched  to  the  hotel  where  he  lodged."  "  We 
were  told,"  continues  Adams,  "  the  day  he  arrived 
there,  the  name  he  assumed,  which  was  Colonel 
Fitz — something — an  Irish  name  that  I  have  forgot- 
ten— the  place  he  came  from,  and  time  he  set  off  to 
return.  .  .  .  Whether  the  design  was  to  seduce 
us  Commissioners,  or  whether  it  was  thought  that 
we  should  send  the  project  to  Congress,  and  that 
they  might  be  tempted  by  it,  or  that  disputes  might 


288  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

be  excited  among  the  people,  I  know  not.  In  either 
case  it  was  very  weak  and  absurd,  and  betrayed  a 
gross  ignorance  of  the  genius  of  the  American 
people." 

The  idea  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain  seeking  to 
get  up  a  clandestine  correspondence  with  his  one- 
time admirer — if  that  idea  be  not  idle  fancy — and 
the  presence  in  Notre  Dame  of  a  secret  emissary  to 
accomplish  that  purpose,  supply  quite  the  flavour  of 
romance.  We  see  here  and  there  other  flashes  of 
the  picturesque  as  we  pursue  the  path  of  Franklin 
— see  him  hobnobbing  with  Beaumarchais,  his  anti- 
thesis, or  sending  a  courier  to  London  to  confer 
with  members  of  Opposition  in  Parliament,*  or  ex- 
tending aid  and  friendship  to  that  prince  of  dashing 
privateers,  Captain  Paul  Jones.  It  was  Jones  who 
gave  to  one  of  the  vessels  in  his  prize-taking  fleet 
the  name  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  because  he 
had  secured  this  fourteen-year-old  ship  from  the 
French  Government  by  acting  upon  Poor  Richard's 
maxim:  "  If  you  would  have  your  business  done, 
come  yourself;  if  not,  send."  He  had  gone  to 
Versailles,  after  much  weary  waiting,  and  obtained 
by  his  presence  what  any  amount  of  correspondence 
had  failed  to  accomplish.  It  was  to  Paul  Jones 
whom  Franklin  wrote,  when  the  commander  was 
preparing  for  a  descent  upon  the  English  coast,  that 


*  Jonathan  Loring  Austin,  the  courier  who  brought  to  the  envoys 
at  Passy  the  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender.  During  his  dangerous 
stay  in  England  he  was  domesticated  in  the  family  of  Lord  Shel- 
burne,  and  was  actually  introduced  to  the  young  Prince  of  Wales 
(later  George  IV.)  when  that  prince  was  in  company  with  Mr.  Fox. 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN  IN  1779. 

FROM  AN  OIL  PAINTING  IN  THF.  POSSESSION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  289 

"  although  the  English  have  wantonly  burned  many 
defenceless  towns  in  America,  you  are  not  to  follow 
this  example,  unless  when  a  reasonable  ransom  is 
refused ;  in  which  case  your  own  generous  feelings 
as  well  as  this  instruction  will  induce  you  to  give 
timely  notice  of  your  intention,  that  sick  and  an- 
cient persons,  women  and  children,  may  be  first 
removed."  It  was  Jones  who  replied,  like  a  sea- 
soned courtier:  "  The  letter  I  had  the  honour  to 
receive  from  you  to-day  would  make  a  coward 
brave." 

Perhaps  the  most  blessed  personal  incident  for 
Franklin,  was  the  departure  from  France  of  Arthur 
Lee.  In  company  with  the  suspicious  Ralph  Izard, 
the  unreceived  minister  to  Tuscany,  Lee  had  done 
all  he  could  to  undermine  the  reputation  of  his 
chief.  Fortunately  that  reputation  was  too  great  to 
be  affected  in  any  permanent  way,  but  the  tension 
of  the  situation  became  extremely  disagreeable  as 
the  eyes  of  the  senior  were  gradually  opened  to  the 
treachery  about  him.  The  pitiful  wrangling  is  best 
described  by  what  he  told  John  Adams,  on  the 
latter's  arrival  from  America,  namely,  that  Lee  was 

a  man  of  an  anxious,  uneasy  temper,  which  made 
it  disagreeable  to  do  business  with  him ;  that  he 
seemed  to  be  one  of  those  men,  of  whom  he  had 
known  many  in  his  day,  who  went  on  through  life 
quarrelling  with  one  person  or  another,  till  they 
commonly  ended  with  the  loss  of  their  reason." 
Ralph  Izard,  he  further  informed  Mr.  Adams,  "  was 
joined  in  close  friendship  with  Mr.  Lee;  that  Mr. 
Izard  was  a  man   of  violent  and  ungoverned  pas- 


290  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

sions;  that  each  of  these  had  a  number  of  Ameri- 
cans about  him,  who  were  always  exciting  disputes, 
and  propagating  stories  that  made  the  service  very 
disagreeable."  Mr.  Izard,  indeed,  did  not  hesitate 
to  write  home  to  Congress  that  Franklin  was  guided 
by  principles  neither  of  virtue  nor  of  honour,  while 
Arthur  Lee  professed  to  have  quite  as  low  an  opinion 
of  the  philosopher.  Again,  it  was  through  the  nasty 
charges  made  by  Lee  that  Silas  Deane  fell  into  bad 
odour  with  the  Continental  legislators.  Deane  was 
accused  of  acting  dishonestly  in  the  business  of  his 
French  mission,  and  as  the  indirect  outcome  of  the 
lies  told  about  him,  he  was  to  die  poor,  and  estranged 
from  his  native  land. 

However  distressing  all  this  plotting  and  schem- 
ing proved,  relief  finally  came  in  the  shape  of  the 
Marquis  de  Lafayette,  who  drove  to  see  Franklin 
one  day  in  February,  1779,  bringing  with  him  from 
America  the  commission  of  Congress  appointing  the 
doctor  sole  plenipotentiary  to  France.  The  three 
commissioners  had  agreed  that  the  interests  of 
America  would  be  best  served  by  the  maintaining 
of  only  one  envoy,  but  it  would  be  going  many 
lengths  too  far  to  add  that  two  of  them  were  united 
in  hoping  that  Franklin  would  be  the  fortunate  man. 
Franklin  was  the  fortunate  man,  however;  and  it  is 
with  pleasure,  and  good-bye  assurances  of  contempt, 
that  Mr.  Izard  (now  recalled  to  America)  and  Mr. 
Lee  make  their  exits  from  our  narrative.  To  follow 
them  further  would  serve  no  useful  purpose,  al- 
though it  is  worth  the  noting  that  ere  Lee  gave  up 
the  fight  his  friends  in  Congress  made  a  desperate 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  291 

but  unsuccessful  effort  to  secure  the  recall  of  Frank- 
lin, and  to  put  the  Virginian  in  his  place.  It  was 
high  time  that  the  unrest  at  the  legation  should  be 
succeeded  by  a  more  peaceful  environment.  The 
sole  plenipotentiary  had  his  hands  full  in  dealing,  at 
long  range,  with  the  financial  problems  besetting 
Congress,  and  coaxing  loans  from  the  French  Gov- 
ernment— a  line  of  diplomacy  wherein  his  skill  is 
shown  from  the  fact  that  he  secured  in  this  wise, 
from  1777  to  1782,  some  26,000,000  francs. 

Although  we  have  thus  bid  farewell  to  Messrs. 
Lee  and  Izard  we  must  renew  our  acquaintance  with 
another  of  the  Passy  household,  the  sturdy  John 
Adams,  under  rather  unpleasant  conditions.  For 
after  going  home  to  America  for  a  brief  visit  Mr. 
Adams  returns  to  France  in  the  February  of  1780, 
armed  with  powers  to  arrange  a  peace  with  Eng- 
land, at  some  future  day,  and  is  soon  involved  in  a 
controversy  with  the  Count  de  Vergennes.  Per- 
haps the  American  forgot  how  necessary  it  was  to 
act  with  tact  towards  a  minister  who  had  shown  him- 
self so  friendly  to  the  colonies;  perhaps  he  wrote 
more  than  was  consonant  with  a  diplomatic  reserve, 
but  view  the  affair  as  we  will,  according  to  our  per- 
sonal bias,  it  is  certain  that  the  two  men  fell  out, 
and  that  Vergennes  thought  Adams  deficient  in  the 
necessary  gratitude,  or  politeness,  for  the  good 
offices  of  France.  The  matter  came  to  an  open 
rupture  when  the  New  Englander  wrote  to  the  min- 
ister that  he  doubted  the  usefulness  of  the  fleet 
which  had  sailed  for  America  under  De  Rocham- 
beau.     At  this  De  Vergennes  notified  Adams  that 


292  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

he  would  no  longer  correspond  with  him — "  Mr. 
Franklin  being  the  sole  person  who  has  letters  of 
credence  to  the  King  from  the  United  States  " — and 
the  Count  even  went  so  far  as  to  ask  Franklin  to 
submit  his  reply  to  Congress. 

The  doctor  found  himself  in  a  delicate  predica- 
ment. He  had  no  desire  to  do  anything  to  the 
prejudice  of  John  Adams,  yet  he  knew  far  better 
than  did  that  impolitic  gentleman  the  necessity  for 
keeping  on  the  fairest  terms  with  the  minister. 
America — money-wanting  America — was  in  no  con- 
dition to  dispense  with  so  valued  an  ally  as  France. 
So  he  took  the  bull  by  the  horns  and  wrote  to  the 
President  of  Congress  a  frank  letter  in  which  he  set 
forth  the  circumstance  of  the  quarrel. 

"  It  is  true,"  he  said,  "  that  Mr.  Adams's  proper  business  is  else- 
where ;  but  the  time  not  being  come  for  that  business,  and  having 
nothing  else  here  wherewith  to  employ  himself,  he  seems  to  have 
endeavoured  to  supply  what  he  may  suppose  my  negotiation  defective 
in.  He  thinks,  as  he  tells  me  himself,  that  America  has  been  too 
free  in  expressions  of  gratitude  to  France  ;  for  that  she  is  more 
obliged  to  us  than  we  to  her  ;  and  that  we  should  show  spirit  in  our 
applications.  I  apprehend  that  he  mistakes  his  ground,  and  that  this 
court  is  to  be  treated  with  decency  and  delicacy.  The  King,  a  young 
and  virtuous  prince,  has,  I  am  persuaded,  a  pleasure  in  reflecting  on 
the  generous  benevolence  of  the  action  in  assisting  an  oppressed 
people,  and  proposes  it  as  a  part  of  the  glory  of  his  reign.  I  think  it 
right  to  increase  this  pleasure  by  our  thankful  acknowledgments,  and 
that  such  an  expression  of  gratitude  is  not  only  our  duty,  but  our 
interest.  A  different  conduct  seems  to  me  what  is  not  only  improper 
and  unbecoming,  but  what  may  be  hurtful  to  us.  Mr.  Adams,  on 
the  other  hand,  who,  at  the  same  time,  means  our  welfare  and  inter- 
est as  much  as  I,  or  any  man,  can  do,  seems  to  think  a  little  apparent 
stoutness,  and  a  greater  air  of  independence  and  boldness  in  our  de- 
mands, will  procure  us  more  ample  assistance.     It  is  for  Congress  to 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  293 

judge  and  regulate  their  affairs  accordingly.  .  .  .  It  is  my  inten- 
tion, while  I  stay  here,  to  procure  what  advantages  I  can  for  our 
country,  by  endeavouring  to  please  this  court  ;  and  I  wish  I  could 
prevent  anything  being  said  by  any  of  our  countrymen  here,  that  may 
have  a  contrary  effect,  and  increase  an  opinion  lately  showing  itself  in 
Paris,  that  we  seek  a  difference,  and  with  a  view  of  reconciling  our- 
selves to  England.  Some  of  them  have  of  late  been  very  indiscreet  in 
their  conversations." 

Fortunately  for  all  and  everything  concerned,  the 
indiscretions  of  Mr.  Adams  had  no  sequel,  beyond 
the  inevitable  discussion  of  the  matter  by  Congress. 
That  he  came  very  near  to  becoming  an  uninten- 
tional mischief-maker  cannot  be  doubted.  He  had 
arrived  in  Paris  much  impressed  with  the  idea  of 
trying  to  open  immediate  negotiations  for  a  peace 
with  England;  M.  de  Vergennes  thought,  or  pre- 
tended to  think,  that  the  time  had  not  come  for  com- 
municating with  the  British  Government ;  and  from 
this  difference  of  opinion  the  American  had  foolishly 
drifted  into  a  quarrel.  But  to  dwell  upon  this  epi- 
sode would  be  ungracious ;  to  pick  flaws  in  so  valiant 
a  champion  of  America  as  honest  John  Adams  is 
not  our  mission. 

Rather  let  us  carry  on  our  chronicle  to  the  final 
achievements  of  Franklin  in  that  diplomatic  sphere 
for  which  it  might  be  said  that  nature  specially  had 
intended  him,  were  it  not  that  he  seemed  equally  at 
home  in  other  lines  of  usefulness.  Now  the  Revolu- 
tion has  reached  its  climax;  Lord  Cornwallis  has 
surrendered  at  Yorktown  (October  17,  1781);  the 
philosopher  is  to  use  his  powers  in  the  direction  of 
reconciliation.  An  as  opponent  to  England  he  has 
proved  a  veritable  giant ;  as  a  peace-maker,  in  a  role 


294  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

well  suited  to  the  mellowness  and  charity  of  old  age, 
he  will  be  hardly  less  successful. 

In  the  spring  of  1781  the  doctor  had  asked  per- 
mission of  Congress  to  retire  from  the  French  mis- 
sion, but  instead  of  relieving  him  that  body  merely 
put  another  task  upon  the  envoy  by  appointing  him 
joint  commissioner,  with  John  Jay  and  John  Adams, 
to  settle  terms  of  peace.  Later,  when  Lord  North 
and  his  colleagues  give  way  to  a  Whig  ministry, 
informal  negotiations  are  already  in  progress,  and 
Franklin  is  writing  to  Lord  Shelburne,  of  the  new 
cabinet,  expressing  his  hope  for  a  general  peace, 
"  which  I  am  sure  your  lordship,  with  all  good  men, 
desires,  which  I  wish  to  see  before  I  die,  and  to 
which  I  shall,  with  infinite  pleasure,  contribute 
everything  in  my  power."  This  friendly  note  was 
unofficial,  but  it  brought  a  response  from  Shelburne, 
and  also  an  agent  of  his  lordship's  in  the  person  of 
Richard  Oswald,  a  merchant  who  was  to  find  out 
the  views  of  Franklin  and  to  talk  over  the  whole 
question  of  amity  between  France,  America,  and 
Great  Britain.  There  were  conferences  between 
the  agent,  the  envoy,  and  the  Count  de  Vergennes, 
and  once,  after  returning  from  Versailles,  Oswald 
intimated  that  if  in  any  proposed  settlement  France 
should  make  humiliating  demands  of  England,  '*  the 
spirit  of  the  nation  would  be  roused,  unanimity 
would  prevail,  and  resources  would  not  be  wanting." 
As  Franklin  relates : 

"  He  [Oswald]  said,  there  was  no  want  of  money  in  the  nation  ; 
that  the  chief  difficulty  lay  in  the  finding  out  new  taxes  to  raise  it  ; 
and,  perhaps,  that  difficulty  might  be  avoided   by  shutting  up  the 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  295 

Exchequer,  stopping  the  payment  of  the  interest  to  the  public  funds, 
and  applying  that  money  to  the  support  of  the  war.  I  made  no  re- 
ply to  this  ;  for  I  did  not  desire  to  discourage  their  stopping  pay- 
ment, which  I  considered  as  cutting  the  throat  of  the  public  credit, 
and  a  means  of  adding  fresh  exasperation  against  tiiem  with  the 
neighbouring  nations.  Such  menaces  were  besides  an  encourage- 
ment with  me,  remembering  the  adage  that  they  ivho  threaten  are 
afraid." 

Franklin,  in  his  intercourse  with  Oswald,  dis- 
played his  usual  tact  and  caution,  and  quite  won 
over  that  emissary  to  his  own  way  of  thinking.  He 
went  further  than  this,  however,  by  boldly  suggest- 
ing the  cession  of  Canada  to  the  United  States,  in  a 
paper  called  "Notes  for  Conversation,"  which,  after 
a  proper  show  of  diffidence,  he  allowed  the  agent  to 
convey  to  Lord  Shelburne.  It  was  a  suggestion,  of 
course,  which  could  not  be  seriously  considered,  but 
nothing  was  lost,  as  the  astute  American  must  have 
realised,  in  putting  his  own  case  on  an  ambitious 
level. 

To  attempt  to  describe  all  that  went  before  the 
peace — the  vast  amount  of  correspondence,  the  in- 
terviews, the  fluctuations  of  the  British  ministry,  the 
scheming  of  the  Count  de  Vergennes,  the  manoeu- 
vring of  Messrs.  Franklin,  Jay,  and  Adams — would 
be  to  get  entangled  in  a  maze  of  data  to  which  only 
a  lengthy  story  could  do  justice.  To  delve  into  the 
details  is  to  become  absorbed  in  something  that 
reads  like  a  diplomatic  novel;  and  the  chronicler 
who  does  so  is  sorely  tempted  to  quote  therefrom 
far  beyond  the  limits  of  space  assigned  to  him.  The 
provocation  is  great,  and  in  one  instance  must  it  be 
yielded  to,  in  describing  a  little  contretemps.     The 


296  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

humour  of  it  was  not  lost  sight  of  by  Franklin,  who 
wrote  an  account  of  the  incident  on  the  day  it  hap- 
pened : 

"  The  Count  du  Nord,  who  is  son  of  the  Empress  of  Russia,  ar- 
riving at  Paris,  ordered,  it  seems,  cards  of  visit  to  be  sent  to  all  the 
foreign  ministers.  One  of  them,  on  which  was  written,  '  Le  Comte 
du  Nord  et  le  Prince  B  aria  tins  ki, '  W2is  brought  to  me.  It  was  on 
Monday  evening  last.  Being  at  court  the  aext  day  I  inquired  of  an 
old  minister,  my  friend,  what  was  the  etiquette,  and  whether  the 
Count  received  visits.  The  answer  was,  ^  Non  ;  on  se  fait  derive  • 
voila  tout.''  This  is  done  by  passing  the  door,  and  ordering  your 
name  to  be  written  on  the  porter's  book.  Accordingly,  on  Wednes- 
day I  passed  the  house  of  Prince  Bariatinski,  Ambassador  of  Russia, 
where  the  Count  lodged,  and  left  my  name  on  the  list  of  each.  I 
thought  no  more  of  the  matter  ;  but  this  day.  May  the  24th,  comes 
the  servant  who  brought  the  card,  in  great  affliction,  saying  he  was 
like  to  be  ruined  by  his  mistake  in  bringing  the  cards  here,  and 
wishing  to  obtain  from  me  some  paper,  of  I  know  not  what  kind,  for 
I  did  not  see  him. 

"In  the  afternoon  came  my  friend,  M.  Le  Roy,  who  is  also  a 
friend  of  the  Prince's,  telling  me  how  much  he,  the  Prince,  was  con- 
cerned at  the  accident,  that  both  himself  and  the  Count  had  great 
personal  regard  for  me  and  my  character,  but  that,  our  independence 
not  yet  being  acknowledged  by  the  court  of  Russia,  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  permit  himself  to  make  me  a  visit  as  minister.  I  told  M. 
Le  Roy  it  was  not  my  custom  to  seek  such  honours,  though  I  was 
very  sen.sible  of  them  when  conferred  upon  me  ;  that  I  should  not 
have  voluntarily  intruded  a  visit,  and  that  in  this  case,  I  had  only 
done  what  I  was  informed  the  etiquette  required  of  me  ;  but  if  it 
would  be  attended  with  any  inconvenience  to  Prince  Bariatinski, 
whom  I  much  esteemed  and  respected,  I  thought  the  remedy  was 
easy ;  he  had  only  to  erase  my  name  out  of  his  books  of  visits 
received,  and  I  would  burn  their  card." 

As  a  comment  upon  this  amusing  piece  of  red- 
tapeism,  Franklin  says : 

"  All  the  northern  princes  are  not  ashamed  of  a  little  civility  com- 
mitted towards  an  American.     The  King  of  Denmark,  travelling  in 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  297 

England  under  an  assumed  name,  sent  me  a  card,  expressing  in 
strong  terms  his  esteem  for  me,  and  inviting  me  to  dinner  with  him 
at  St.  James's.  And  the  Ambassador  from  the  King  of  Sweden 
lately  asked  me,  whether  I  had  powers  to  make  a  treaty  of  commerce 
with  their  kingdom,  for,  he  said,  his  master  was  desirous  of  such  a 
treaty  with  the  United  States,  had  directed  him  to  ask  me  the  ques- 
tion, and  had  charged  him  to  tell  me,  that  it  would  flatter  him  greatly 
to  make  it  with  a  person  whose  character  he  so  much  esteemed,  etc. 
Such  compliments  might  make  me  a  little  proud,  if  we  Americans 
were  not  naturally  as  much  so  already  as  the  porter,  who,  being  told 
he  had  with  his  burden  jostled  the  great  Czar,  Peter,  then  in  I.ondon, 
walking  the  street,  '  Poh  ./'  says  he,  '  we  are  all  Czars  here.'  "  * 

Had  the  philosopher  found  nothing  more  disagree- 
able than  the  vagueness  of  his  position  before  the 
diplomatic  world  he  would  hav^e  considered  himself 
a  fortunate  man.  But  it  so  happened  that  ere  the 
signing  of  the  preliminary  articles  of  peace  he  was 
brought  into  a  passive  opposition  to  Messrs.  Jay 
and  Adams.  Mr.  Jay  had  a  very  positive  and  well- 
grounded  suspicion  that  the  Count  de  Vergennes 
was  seeking  to  restrict  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  to  play  into  the 
hands  of  Spain  at  the  expense  of  America  ;  Mr. 
Adams  supported  his  colleague  in  this  belief,  and 
the  doctor,  very  naturally,  if  not,  perhaps,  so  saga- 
ciously as  we  might  expect,  continued  to  show  faith 
in  the  disinterestedness  of  the  French  ministry. 
Mr.  Jay  was  anxious  to  negotiate  directly  with 
Great  Britain,  without  the  co-operation  of  France, 
and  contrary  to  the  wish  of  Congress  that  the  min- 
istry of  Louis  XVI.  should  be  allowed  to  work  in 
harmony   with   the  commissioners.      The  situation 

*  From  the  Joui-nal  of  the  Negotiations  for  Peace  rvith  Great 
Britain, 


298  Benjamin  Franklin  [1777- 

might  have  become  more  than  embarrasshig,  but  the 
doctor  yielded  the  point ;  the  preliminary  treaty  of 
peace  was  negotiated  directly  with  Great  Britain ; 
Franklin  was  left  to  make  apologies  to  the  disgusted 
Vergennes,  and  to  prevent  the  rising  of  discord  be- 
tween France  and  the  United  States.  Nothing 
better  tested  the  sterling  patriotism  of  Franklin 
than  the  wisdom  of  this  concession.  He  would 
have  treated  France  as  an  honoured  ally,  not  as  an 
object  of  suspicion,  yet  he  realised  the  danger  of 
delay,  and  rather  than  bring  about  a  series  of  com- 
plications, he  gracefully  said  "  Yes  "  to  Messrs.  Jay 
and  Adams,  rendered  noble  assistance  in  drawing 
up  the  treaty  which  recognised  the  independence  of 
his  country,  and  sank  in  love  of  that  country  all 
personal  feeling  or  predilection.  That  he  was  too 
charitable  in  his  estimate  of  Gallic  diplomacy  les- 
sens not  one  whit  the  merit  of  this  acquiescence,  or 
the  value  of  his  services  in  the  conferences  preceding 
the  settlement. 

The  preliminary  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  (under  the  terms  of  which  the 
sovereignty  of  the  latter  nation  was  conceded,  the 
British  troops  within  her  territory  ordered  to  be 
withdrawn,  boundaries  agreed  upon,  etc.)  was 
signed  on  the  30th  of  November,  1782.  It  seemed 
now  as  if  the  cup  of  the ' '  little  postmaster's"  felicity 
had  been  filled  to  the  brim.  Surely,  Father  Time 
had  dealt  leniently  in  allowing  an  erstwhile  subject 
of  Queen  Anne  to  live  under  the  rule  of  three  suc- 
ceeding sovereigns,  and  finally  to  assist,  as  one  of  its 
most  honoured  founders,  in  the  erection  of  a  colos- 


1783]  Play  and  Politics  299 

sal  republic.  But  there  was  no  chance  to  indulge 
in  sentiment  and  "  spread-eagleism."  Mr.  Jay, 
Mr.  Adams,  and  Henry  Laurens,  who  was  also 
acting  as  a  peace  commissioner,  still  left  to  their  old 
colleague  the  duty  of  pacifying  the  Count  de  Ver- 
gennes.  This  difficult  task  he  skilfully  accomplished, 
after  the  exhibition  of  the  expected  hauteur  on  the 
part  of  the  minister,  and  we  find  the  envoy  writing 
to  the  latter  that  "  nothing  has  been  agreed  in  the 
preliminaries  contrary  to  the  interests  of  France,  and 
no  peace  is  to  take  place  between  us  and  England, 
till  you  have  concluded  yours.  Your  observation 
is,  however,  apparently  just,  that,  in  not  consulting 
you  before  they  were  signed,  we  have  been  guilty 
of  neglecting  a  point  of  biciiscancc.  But,  as  this 
was  not  from  want  of  respect  for  the  King,  whom 
we  all  love  and  honour,  we  hope  it  will  be  excused, 
and  that  the  great  work,  which  has  hitherto  been 
so  happily  conducted,  is  so  nearly  brought  to  per- 
fection, and  is  so  glorious  to  his  reign,  will  not  be 
ruined  by  a  single  indiscretion  of  ours."  "And 
certainly,"  said  the  veteran,  "  the  whole  edifice 
sinks  to  the  ground  immediately  if  you  refuse  on 
that  account  to  give  us  any  further  assistance." 
The  letter  was  a  masterly  combination  of  an  apol- 
ogy and  a  request  for  money.  It  succeeded  in  both 
directions;  M.  de  Vergennes  was  finally  appeased, 
and  the  French  Government  loaned  to  the  United 
States  another  sum  of  6,000,000  francs — results 
which  testified  very  plainly  to  the  soothing  talents 
of  Franklin,  and  to  the  honour,  even  veneration, 
wherein  he  was  held.     Well  might  Jefferson  say, 


300  Benjamin  Franklin  [1783 

when  asked,  some  time  later,  if  he  had  come  to 
France  to  replace  the  doctor:  "  No  one  can  replace 
him,  sir;  I  am  only  his  successor." 

In  the  following  January  the  preliminaries  of  a 
general  peace  between  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
Spain  were  signed  at  Versailles,  Franklin  being  one 
of  the  joyful  spectators  of  the  scene;  the  beginning 
of  September  witnessed  the  sealing  of  the  definitive 
treaty  between  England  and  the  United  States. 
The  Revolution  was,  indeed,  a  thing  of  the  past, 
and  the  envoy  who  had  done  so  much  to  bring  it  to 
a  successful  issue  began  to  long  for  Philadelphia, 
where  he  might  "  enjoy  the  little  left  him  of  the 
evening  of  life  in  repose,  and  in  the  sweet  society  of 
his  friends  and  family."  He  had  obtained  of  glory 
more  than  enough.  "  Could  I  have  hoped  at  such 
an  age,  to  have  enjoyed  such  happiness  ?  "  he  cried 
to  his  friend,  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld. 


CHAPTER  XII 

A  RETROSPECT 

1 746-1 783 

E  have  had,  of  necessity,  so  much  to 
do  with  the  pubhc  activities  of  Frank- 
Hn,  and  have  so  often  left  phicid 
Philadelphia  to  follow  the  fortunes 
of  our  hero  in  the  old  world,  that  the 
glimpses  of  his  home  life  must  seem  few  and  far  be- 
tween. We  may  be  pardoned,  therefore,  in  exercis- 
ing the  prerogative  of  the  historian  by  turning  back, 
before  farewells  are  said,  to  look  for  a  moment  at 
the  philosopher  as  he  appears  in  his  own  house. 
That  is  a  view  in  which  the  average  "  great  man  " 
does  not  always  figure  to  advantage,  but  with 
Franklin  the  more  we  peer  into  his  establishment 
on  Market  Street  the  more  distinct  becomes  his 
kindliness  of  heart  and  domesticity  of  disposition. 

One  of  the  best  pictures  that  we  get  of  him  in 
this  beneficent  light  is  furnished  in  the  diary  of 
Daniel  Fisher,-'  a  gentleman  who  came  up  to  Phila- 

*  Extracts  from  this  diary,  contributed  by  Mrs.  Conway  Robinson 
Howard,  may  be  found  in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  Hislory 
and  Biography,  vol.  xvii.,  No.  3. 

301 


302  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

delphia  from  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  in  the  May  of 
1755,  in  the  hopes  of  winning  fortune  in  the  Quaker 
City.  Mr.  Fisher  was  armed  with  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  Chief-Justice  Allen,  a  dignitary  upon 
whom  he  made  haste  to  call  after  he  had  quartered 
himself  at  the  "  Indian  King"  tavern,  "  kept  by 
one  Mr.  John  Biddle,  a  very  civil,  courteous 
Quaker."  Mr.  Allen,  as  ill-luck  had  it,  could  or 
would  do  nothing  for  the  Virginian,  notwithstand- 
ing the  presentation  of  the  note  from  the  Honour- 
able Mr.  Nelson.  The  Chief  Justice  expressed  his 
warm  regard  for  the  writer,  but  regretted  that  it 
was  not  in  his  power  to  help  the  visitor. 

"  He  advised  me,"  says  Fisher,  "  to  look  about  myself,  and  if  I 
found  anyone  inclined  to  employ  me  in  any  shape,  on  my  applying 
to  him,  he  would  inform  them  of  the  character  Mr.  Nelson  had  given 
me.  This,  I  own,  was  a  reception  I  was  not  prepared  for  ;  yet  mor- 
tified and  confounded  as  I  was  I  begged  he  would  reflect  I  was  an 
utter  stranger  in  the  place,  to  which  I  observed  he  was  sensible.  I 
had  travelled  merely  at  the  instance  and  advice  of  the  Honble.  Mr. 
Nelson.  That  I  was  now  so  destitute  of  acquaintance,  that  I  did  not 
know  where,  nor  to  whom  to  apply  for  a  private  lodging,  for  want  of 
which  advantage,  I  shall  be  obliged,  both  horse  and  myself,  at  a  large 
expense,  to  continue  at  a  public  inn.  But  this  instead  of  exciting  in 
him  any  feeling  of  my  distress  or  anxiety  only  increased  his  impatience 
to  get  rid  of  me,  keeping  me  standing,  and  moving  divers  times 
towards  the  door,  as  if  he  apprehended  that  I  did  not  know  the  way. 
However,  at  the  third  or  fourth  motion,  I  took  the  hint,  walking  out 
of  the  room  into  the  passage,  he  very  civilly  keeping  me  company  to 
the  street  door  ;  but  before  we  parted,  I  entreated  to  know  whether 
I  might  have  the  liberty  of  waiting  on  him  again,  when  he  had  con- 
sidered my  case,  and  I  might  have  the  happiness  of  finding  him  more 
at  leisure.  As  to  that,  he  said,  he  might  generally  be  spoke  with 
about  nine  in  the  morning." 

Fisher  returned  in  a  melancholy  mood  to  his  inn. 


1783]  A  Retrospect  303 

It  seemed  as  if  the  Chief  Justice  had  no  idea  of  help- 
ing him,  and  repeated  visits  confirmed  the  correct- 
ness of  this  gloomy  theory. 

"  Thus  circumstanced,"  continues  the  stranger,  "in  a  kind  of  de- 
spair it  entered  my  romantic  head  to  communicate  my  unhappy  con- 
dition to  Mr.  Franixlin,  a  gentleman  in  good  esteem  here  and  well 
known  to  the  Philosophical  World.  I  without  reserve  laid  the  whole 
of  my  affairs  before  him,  requesting  his  aid,  if  such  a  thing  might  be 
without  inconvenience  to  himself.  This  in  writing  I  sent  to  him 
June  4th,  early  in  the  morning.  The  same  day  I  received  a  note  by 
a  servant  under  a  wafer  in  these  words  : 

"  '  Mr.  Franklin's  compliments  to  Mr.  Fisher  and  desires  the 
favour  of  his  Company  to  drink  Tea  at  5  o'clock  this  afternoon.' 

"  I  went  at  the  time,  and  in  my  imagination  met  with  a  humane, 
kind  reception.  He  expressed  concern  for  my  afflictions  and  prom- 
ised to  assist  me  into  some  business  provided  it  was  in  his  power.  In 
returning  from  I\Ir.  Franklin's,  a  silversmith  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Mr.  Franklin,  seeing  me  come  out  of  that  gentleman's  house, 
spoke  to  me  as  I  was  passing  his  door  and  invited  me  to  sit  down." 

The  name  of  the  silversmith  was  Soumien ;  the 
result  of  the  meeting  was  that  in  a  few  hours  Mr. 
Fisher  had  installed  himself  as  a  lodger  in  the 
Soumien  household,  and  was  "  very  well  pleased  " 
to  observe  that  the  family  "  seemed  to  be  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Franklin's."  So  cordial,  indeed,  was  the 
acquaintance  that  the  very  next  afternoon  Mrs. 
Franklin  paid  the  Soumiens  a  visit,  of  which  the 
diarist  makes  this  curious  entry : 

"  As  I  was  coming  down  from  my  chamber  this  afternoon  a  gen- 
tlewoman was  sitting  on  one  of  the  lowest  stairs,  which  were  but 
narrow,  and  there  not  being  room  enough  to  pass,  she  arose  up  and 
threw  herself  upon  the  floor  and  sat  there.  Mr.  Soumien  and  his 
wife  greatly  entreated  her  to  arise  and  take  a  chair,  but  in  vain  ;  she 
would  keep  her  seat,  and  kept  it,  I  think,  the  longer  for  their  en- 


304  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

treaty.  This  gentlewoman,  whom,  though  I  had  seen  before,  I  did 
not  know,  appeared  to  be  Mrs.  Franklin.  She  assumed  the  airs  of 
extraordinary  freedom  and  great  humility,  lamented  heavily  the  mis- 
fortunes of  those  who  are  unhappily  infected  with  a  too  tender  or 
benevolent  disposition,  said  she  believed  all  the  world  claimed  a 
privilege  of  troubling  her  Pappy  (so  she  usually  calls  Mr.  Franklin) 
with  their  calamities  and  distress,  giving  us  a  general  history  of 
many  such  wretches  and  their  impertinent  applications  to  him." 

It  is  evident  that  Mr.  Fisher  was  not  over-much 
impressed  with  Deborah  Franklin,  among  whose 
many  virtues  could  be  found  neither  polish  nor  breed- 
ing of  the  Vere  de  Vere  type.  Perhaps  she,  on  her 
part,  looked  upon  Fisher  as  an  impecunious  Virgin- 
ian who  was  giving  her"  Pappy  "  entirely  too  much 
trouble.      But  we  quote  again  from  the  diary : 

"Thursday,  the  I2th  (June). — This  morning  about  nine  Mr. 
Franklin  sent  for  me  to  copy  a  pretty  long  letter  from  General 
Braddock,  acknowledging  the  care  of  the  Pennsylvanians  in  sending 
provisions,  etc.,  to  the  forces,  Mr.  Franklin  in  particular,  and  com- 
plaining of  the  neglect  of  the  governments  of  Virginia  and  Maryland 
especially,  in  speaking  of  which  two  colonies,  he  says :  They  had 
promised  everything  and  had  performed  nothing  ;  and  of  the  Penn- 
sylvanians, he  said  :  They  had  promised  nothing  and  had  performed 
everything.  .  .  .  When  I  had  finished  several  hasty  copies  for 
which  the  post  then  waited,  he  desired  I  would  breakfast  with  him 
the  next  morning  and  he  would  then  give  me  more  work. 

"June  13  and  14. — I  was  closely  employed  on  several  copies  of  a 
manuscript  treatise  entitled,  '  Observations  Concerning  the  Increase 
of  Mankind,  Peopling  of  Countrys,  Etc' 

"From  June  16  to  July  10:  employed  generally  in  writing  or 
sorting  of  papers  at  the  printing  office.  I  should  observe  that  on 
St.  John  the  Baptist  Day  (June  24),  there  was  the  greatest  procession 
of  Free  Masons  to  the  church  and  their  Lodge,  in  Second  Street, 
that  was  ever  seen  in  America.  N'o  less  than  160  being  in  the  pro- 
cession in  gloves,  aprons,  etc.,  attended  by  a  band  of  music.  Mr. 
Allin,  the  Grand  Master,  honouring  them  with  his  company,  as  did 


I7S3]  A  Retrospect  305 

the  Deputy  Grand  Master,  Mr.  Benjamin  Franklin  and  his  son,  Mr. 
William  Franklin,  who  walked  as  the  next  Chief  Officer.  A  sword 
bearer  with  a  naked  sword  drawn  headed  the  procession.  They 
dined  together  elegantly,  as  it  is  said  at  their  hall  upon  Turtle,  etc. 
[Poor  Fisher  !  The  thought  of  turtle— Turtle  with  a  capital  T  as  he 
spell3  it — must  have  gone  to  his  hungry  soul.] 

"  Friday,  July  i8. — This  afternoon  about  three  o'clock  we  were 
terribly  alarmed  by  an  express  by  way  of  Maryland  from  Colonel 
Innis,  dated  at  Mill's  Creek  or  Fort  Cumberland,  July  ii,  giving  an 
account  that  the  forces  under  General  Braddock  were  entirely  de- 
feated by  the  French.  .  .  .  Having  as  yet  made  no  settled 
agreement  with  Mr.  Franklin,  I  was  not  certain  that  he  had  any  real 
occasion  for  my  services,  having  several  days  together  nothing  for 
me  to  do." 

At  this  juncture  Mr.  Fisher  met  one  Captain 
Coultas,  a  "  person  of  sense  and  character,"  and 
learned  that  in  case  the  said  captain  was  selected 
Sheriff  of  Philadelphia,  he  (Fisher)  miijht  expect 
employment.      The  diary  continues: 

"  Extremely  pleased  with  the  humanely  rational  generosity  of  this 
sensible  man,  I  immediately  flew  to  my  friend,  Mr.  Franklin,  with 
the  news,  that  he  might  participate  in  my  satisfaclion,  but  was  some- 
what surprised  that  he  did  not  consider  what  I  had  done  in  the  same 
view  with  myself.  He  allowed  Captain  Coultas  was  a  very  worthy 
man,  and  would  sincerely  perform  everything  I  was  encouraged  to 
expect  or  hope  for,  but  could  not  apprehend  that  anything  he  could 
do  for  me  would  be  worthy  my  acceptance  ;  that  he  had  himself 
thought  of  several  ways  of  serving  me,  and  has  rejected  them  only 
because  he  esteemed  them  too  mean.  Particularly,  he  said,  he  could 
immediately  put  me  into  the  Academy,  in  the  capacity  of  English 
School  Master,  a  place  of  £60  a  year,  with  some  other  advantages, 
but  refrained  mentioning  it  to  me  in  hopes  of  having  it  soon  in  his 
power  of  doing  better  for  me.  I  assured  him  with  the  utmost  grati- 
tude, the  employ  did  not  appear  in  so  mean  a  light  to  me  ;  and  the 
only  reason  I  had  for  declining  the  favour,  was  the  diffidence  of  my 
abihty  in  doing  justice  to  his  recommendations,  a  thing  which  he 
said,  he  was  not  in  the  least  apprehension  of.     However,  presuming 


3o6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

it  gave  him  no  offence,  I  craved  his  leave  to  decline  the  kind  offer, 
and  he  declared  himself  very  well  satisfied.  Having  informed  him 
that  I  should  prefer  serving  him  as  a  clerk  provided  he  had  any  occa- 
sion for  me,  on  Monday  morning,  July  28th,  I  received  the  following 
letter  from  him  : 

"  '  Monday  morning,  July  28. — Sir — Till  our  new  building  is  fin- 
ished, which  I  hope  will  be  in  two  or  three  weeks,  I  have  no  room 
to  accommodate  a  clerk.  But  it  is  my  intention  to  have  one,  though 
my  business  is  so  small  that  I  cannot  afford  to  give  more  than  I  have 
always  given,  Viz.  Diet  at  my  own  Table,  with  Lodging  and  Wash- 
ing and;i^25  per  Annum.  I  could  never  think  this  worth  offering  to 
you  but  if  you  think  fit  to  accept  it,  till  something  better  shall  fall  in 
the  way,  you  shall  be  very  welcome  to  &c.     B.  Franklin.' 

"  '  P.  S. — It  may  commence  from  the  time  you  first  began  to  write 
for  me,  in  which  case  I  discharge  your  Board,  etc.,  at  Mr.  Soumien's, 
or  from  the  present  time,  and  then  I  pay  you  for  the  writing  done, 
or  if  you  chuse  it,  I  will  get  you  into  the  charity  school,  as  I  men- 
tioned before.' " 

This  was  gracious  and  benevolent  treatment  of  a 
man  who  had  come  to  Franklin  without  the  slightest 
claim  upon  his  generosity,  barring  despair  and  a 
"  romantic  head."  Mr.  Fisher  tells  us  that  he 
quickly  accepted  the  tendered  clerkship,  and  then 
describes  a  peculiar  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Frank- 
lin household  anent  the  status  therein  of  Mr.  William 
Franklin,  the  future  Governor  of  New  Jersey: 

"  Mr.  Soumien  had  often  informed  me  of  great  uneasiness  and  dis- 
satisfaction in  Mr.  Franklin's  family  in  a  manner  no  way  pleasing  to 
me  and  which  in  truth  I  was  unwilling  to  credit,  but  as  Mrs.  Frank- 
lin and  I,  of  late,  began  to  be  friendly  and  sociable,  I  discerned  too 
great  grounds  for  Mr.  Soumien's  reflections,  arising  solely  from  tur- 
bulence and  jealousy  and  pride  of  her  disposition.  She  suspecting 
Mr.  Franklin  for  having  too  great  an  esteem  for  his  son  in  prejudice 
of  herself  and  daughter,  a  young  woman  of  about  12  or  13  years  of 
age,  for  whom  it  was  visible  Mr.  Franklin  had  no  less  esteem  than 
for  his  son.     Young  Mr.  Franklin,  I  have  often  seen  pass  to  and 


^783]  A  Retrospect  307 

from  his  father's  apartment  upon  business  (for  he  does  not  eat,  drink, 
or  sleep  in  the  house),  without  least  compliment  between  Mr.  Frank- 
lin and  him  or  any  sort  of  notice  taken  of  each  other,  till  one  day  I 
was  sitting  with  her  in  the  passage  when  the  young  gentleman  came 
by,  she  exclaimed  to  me  (he  not  hearing) : 

"  '  Mr.  Fisher,  there  goes  the  greatest  Villain  upon  Earth.' 
"  This  greatly  confounded  and  perplexed  me,  but  did  not  hinder 
her  from  pursuing  her  invectives  in  the  foulest  terms  I  ever  heard 
from  a  gentlewoman.  What  to  say  or  do  I  could  not  tell,  till  luckily 
a  neighbour  of  her  acquaintance  coming  in  I  made  my  escape.  I 
ever  after  industriously  avoided  being  alone  with  her  and  she  ap- 
peared no  less  cunning  in  seeking  opportunities  of  beginning  the  sub- 
ject again,  in  so  much  that  I  foresaw  a  very  unpromising  situation. 
The  respect  due  this  young  man,  which  his  father  always  paid  him 
and  which  I  was  determined  he  should  receive  from  me,  would  not, 
I  perceived  clearly,  be  endured  by  a  woman  of  her  violent  spirit,  and 
I  began  to  wish  my  engagement  had  been  with  Captain  Coultas." 

Evidently  Mr.  Fisher  was  not  a  philosopher. 
Fortunately  for  his  peace  of  mind  he  now  received 
news  which  seemed  to  promise  him  a  more  prosper- 
ous career  should  he  return  to  Virginia. 

"  The  uncertainty  of  my  situation,  my  apprehensions  of  Mrs. 
Franklin's  turbulent  temper,  together  with  reflecting  upon  what 
might  be  the  consequence  of  General  Braddock's  defeat,  brought  me 
to  a  resolution  of  seeing  my  family  and  Mr.  Walthoe  at  Williamsburg 
before  I  came  to  any  certain  determination  of  a  settlement ;  yet  I 
showed  Mr.  Franklin  my  letter,  and  craved  his  opinion,  who  very 
readily  came  into  mine,  assuring  me  that  he  would  wait  a  considerable 
space  for  the  result  of  our  conferences  before  he  supplied  himself 
with  a  clerk  or  the  school  with  a  master.  So  I  fixed  upon  Sunday 
the  lOth  for  setting  out  on  my  journey  to  Williamsburg.  Being  not 
determined  which  road  I  should  take  (there  being  several)  Mr.  Frank- 
lin said  if  I  went  the  Upper  he  would  get  me  to  take  an  order  for  a 
small  matter  of  money  on  Mr.  Mercer  in  Virginia,  with  whom  he 
had  had  no  settlement  for  nine  years,  upon  which  I  told  him  I  did 
not  regard  a  few  miles  of  riding  to  serve  him  and  he  might  depend 
upon  my  making  Mr.  Mercer's  in  my  way.     He  gave  me  also  six 


3o8  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

pistoles,  asking  if  that  was  sufficient  for  the  trouble  he  had  given  me. 
I  told  him  it  was.  The  evening  (Saturday)  before  I  set  out,  I  was 
with  him  till  after  ii  o'clock,  when  he  pressed  me  to  accept  ten 
guineas  more,  which  I  refused,  and  I  said  that  in  case  of  accident 
from  my  horse  failing  or  any  other  misfortune  I  had  a  gold  watch  in 
my  pocket  which  would  give  me  some  credit.  It  was  very  near 
twelve  when  we  parted  with  mutual  good  wishes." 

At  five  the  next  morning  Fisher  set  out  for  Wil- 
liamsburg, leaving  behind  him  the  pretty  lanes  of 
Philadelphia  and  the  hospitality  of  its  chief  citizen. 

Here  was  a  diary  written  for  private  rather  than 
public  use,  and  the  impressions  which  it  records  are 
frank  and  unconstrained.  How  much  the  more  pleas- 
ant, therefore,  is  the  insight  it  gives  us  into  the 
helpfulness  of  Franklin  !  If  the  portrait  of  Deborah 
be  uncomplimentary,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  never- 
theless, that  as  time  wore  on  the  relations  between 
the  good  lady  and  her  step-son  became  far  more 
cordial.  When  she  died  she  was  at  peace  with 
William  Franklin,  and  he,  in  turn,  had  not  neglected 
to  pay  her  all  necessary  respect  and  attention.  The 
"  turbulent  temper  "  had  softened  with  the  years. 
It  was  better  that  Mrs.  Franklin  did  not  live  to  see 
the  son  turn  Tory.  She  might  have  returned  to 
her  earlier  way  of  thinking. 

Barring  the  little  frictions  inevitable  in  almost  any 
household,  there  must  have  been  much  to  charm  in 
the  home  life  of  the  doctor  and  his  wife.  Through- 
out all  the  views  thereof  it  is  curious  to  see  how 
essentially  domestic  was  the  philosopher  in  his 
tastes,  and  how  different  he  appeared  from  a  certain 
type  of  public  man  who  is  never  so  bored  as  when 
removed  from  the  eyes  of  the  world,  or  of  the  town. 


1783]  A  Retrospect  309 

Had  Franklin  spent  all  his  years  in  Philadelphia, 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  moderate  income  and  enough 
leisure  to  read  and  pursue  his  scientific  investigations, 
he  would  have  been  quite  as  happy  as  the  better- 
known  Franklin — colonial  agent  in  London,  Signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Envoy  to 
France,  President  of  Pennsylvania,  et  ccetera,  ct  c(£t- 
era.  There  was  nothing  about  the  house  too  small  for 
his  observation ;  there  was  no  petty  detail  in  which 
he  could  not  take  an  interest.  Even  the  quality  of 
food,  the  shape  of  a  coffee-cup,  or  the  decoration  of 
a  room,  not  to  speak  of  such  important  things  as  the 
education  of  his  daughter  or  the  dresses  of  his  wife, 
were  of  consequence  to  the  man  who  helped  to  lead 
national  thought,  oppose  a  national  enemy,  and 
establish  a  republic.  His  was  a  mind  of  wondrous 
receptivity. 

So  great,  indeed,  was  this  love  of  home  and  home- 
gods  that  no  amount  of  foreign  distraction  could  de- 
prive him  of  it.  He  might  go  to  England  on  affairs 
of  state,  but  the  house  in  Philadelphia  was  never 
forgotten. 

"  I  send  you  by  Captain  Budden,"  we  find  him  writing  from  Lon- 
don to  Mrs.  Franklin,  "  a  large  case,  and  a  small  box.  In  the  large 
case  is  another  small  box,  containing  some  English  china  ;  viz.  melons 
and  leaves  for  a  desert  of  fruit  and  cream,  or  the  like  ;  a  bowl  re- 
markable for  the  neatness  of  the  figures,  made  at  Bow,  near  this  city  ; 
some  coffee  cups  of  the  same  ;  a  Worcester  bowl,  ordinary.  To 
show  the  difference  of  workmanship  there  is  something  from  all  the 
china  works  in  England  ;  and  one  old  true  china  bason  mended,  of 
an  odd  colour.  The  same  box  contains  four  silver  salt  ladles,  newest, 
but  ugliest,  fashion  ;  a  little  instrument  to  core  apples  ;  another  to 
make  little  turnips  out  of  great  ones.  .  .  .  Also  seven  yards  of 
printed  cotton,  blue  ground,  to  make  you  a  gown.     I  bought  it  by 


310  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

caiidle-light.  and  liked  it  there,  but  not  so  well  afterwards.  If  you 
do  not  fancy  it,  send  it  as  a  present  from  me  to  Sister  Jenny.  There 
is  a  better  gown  for  you,  of  flowered  tissue,  sixteen  yards,  of  Mrs. 
Stevenson's  fancy,  cost  nine  guineas  ;  and  I  think  it  a  great  beauty. 
There  was  no  more  of  the  sort,  or  you  should  have  had  enough  for  a 
negligee  or  suit." 

It  is  evident  that  buried  in  Franklin's  heart  was 
the  feehng  that  perhaps,  in  the  matter  of  choosing 
gowns,  he  was,  after  all,  quite  as  hopeless  as  any 
other  specimen  of  benighted  man,  and  that  the  taste 
of  his  landlady,  Mrs.  Stevenson,  could  be  relied  upon 
more  successfully.  What  joy  the  "  large  case  " 
must  have  given  the  family  in  Philadelphia!  The 
doctor  goes  on,  in  his  letter,  to  enumerate  with  a 
minuteness  almost  feminine  the  various  articles  the 
box  contained — snuffers,  music  for  Sally,  two  sets 
of  books,  and  much  else  that  will  surely  bring  forth 
enthusiasm.     And  he  says : 

"  Sally's  last  letter  to  her  brother  is  the  best  vi^rote  that  of  late  I 
have  seen  of  hers.  I  only  wish  she  was  a  little  more  careful  of  her 
spelling.  I  hope  she  continues  to  love  going  to  church,  and  would 
have  her  read  over  and  over  again  the  Whole  Duty  of  Man  and  the 
Lady's  Library.  Look  at  the  figures  on  the  china  bowl  and  coffee 
cups,  with  your  spectacles  on  ;  they  will  bear  examining.  I  have 
made  your  compliments  to  Mrs.  Stevenson.  She  is  indeed  very 
obliging,  takes  great  care  of  my  health,  and  is  very  diligent  when  I 
am  any  way  indisposed  ;  but  yet  I  have  a  thousand  times  wished  you 
with  me,  and  my  little  Sally  with  her  ready  hands  and  feet  to  do, 
and  go,  and  come,  and  get  what  I  wanted.  There  is  a  great  differ- 
ence in  sickness  between  being  nursed  with  that  tender  attention, 
which  proceeds  from  sincere  love  ;  and " 

How  the  pretty  comparison  was  to  end  must  be 
left  to  the  imagination,  for  the  conclusion  of  the  let- 
ter is  long  since  lost.     There  is  enough  of  the  com- 


I7S3]  A  Retrospect  3^^ 

parison  to  show  that  in  his  love  of  home  Franklin 
strove  valiantly  to  atone  for  those  errata  of  an 
irregular  youth.* 

When  the  beloved  Sally  was  engaged  to  Richard 
Bache  (whom  she  married  in  October,  1767),  the 
father,  then  on  another  visit  to  England,  wrote  to 
Mrs.  Franklin  a  characteristic  epistle  wherein  pater- 
nal solicitude  and  domestic  economy  have  amusing 
combination.  He  must  leave  it  to  his  wife's  judg- 
ment, he  says,  to  act  "  as  shall  seem  best  "  in  the 
proposed  match. 

"If  you  think  it  a  suitable  one,  I  suppose  the  sooner  it  is  completed 
the  better.  In  that  case  I  would  advise,  that  you  do  not  make  an 
expensive  feasting  wedding,  but  conduct  everything  with  frugality 
and  economy,  which  our  circumstances  now  require  to  be  observed  in 
all  our  expenses.  For,  since  my  partnership  with  Mr.  Hall  is  expired, 
a  great  source  of  our  income  is  cut  off  ;  and,  if  I  should  lose  the  post- 
office,  which,  among  many  changes  here,  is  far  from  being  unlikely, 
we  should  be  reduced  to  our  rents  and  interest  of  money  for  a  sub- 
sistence, which  will  by  no  means  afford  the  chargeable  housekeeping 
and  entertainments  we  have  been  used  to.  For  my  own  part,  I  live 
here  as  frugally  as  possible  not  to  be  destitute  of  the  comforts  of  life, 
making  no  dinners  for  anybody  and  contenting  myself  with  a  single 
dish  when  I  dine  at  home  ;  and  yet  such  is  the  dearness  of  living  here 
in  every  article,  that  my  expenses  amaze  me." 

Then  the  prudent  Franklin  goes  on  to  assure 
Deborah  that  Mr.  Bache  must  not  expect  too  much 
from  his  parents-in-law. 

"  I  hope  his  expectations  are  not  great  of  any  fortune  to  be  had 
with  our  daughter  before  our  death.  I  can  only  say,  that,  if  he 
proves  a  good  husband  to  her  and  a  good  son  to  me,  he  shall  find  me 
as  good  a  father  as  I  can  be  ;  but  at  present,  I  suppose  you  would 


^  This  letter  was  written  February  19,  1758. 


312  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

agree  with  me,  that  we  cannot  do  more  than  fit  her  out  handsomely  in 
clothes  and  furniture,  not  exceeding  in  the  whole  five  hundred  pounds 
of  value.  For  the  rest,  they  must  depend,  as  you  and  I  did,  on  their 
own  industry  and  care,  as  what  remains  in  our  hands  will  be  barely 
sufficient  for  our  support,  and  not  enough  for  them  when  it  comes  to 
be  divided  at  our  decease." 

For  Sarah  the  doctor  always  had  the  greatest 
fondness;  no  rush  of  public  business,  no  absence 
from  America,  could  abate  a  jot  of  his  affection.  Yet 
he  could  find  fault  with  her,  as  with  others,  and  it 
is  quaint  enough  to  see  him  chiding  her,  in  a  letter 
from  France,  for  a  seemingly  extravagant  order 
which  she  had  sent  abroad  : 

"  When  I  began  to  read  your  account  of  the  high  prices  of  goods, 
'  a  pair  of  gloves  seven  dollars,  a  yard  of  common  gauze  twenty-four 
dollars  and  that  it  now  required  a  fortune  to  maintain  a  family  in  a 
very  plain  way '  [Mrs.  Bache  had  been  quoting  Philadelphia  revolu- 
tionary prices  to  her  dear  papa],  I  expected  you  would  conclude  by 
telling  me  that  everybody,  as  well  as  yourself,  was  grown  frugal  and 
industrious  ;  and  I  could  scarce  believe  my  eyes  in  reading  forward, 
that  '  there  never  was  so  much  pleasure  and  dressing  going  on  '  ;  and 
that  you  yourself  wanted  black  pins  and  feathers  from  France,  to 
appear,  I  suppose,  in  the  mode  !  .  .  .  The  war,  indeed,  may  in 
some  degree  raise  the  prices  of  goods,  and  the  high  taxes  which  are 
necessary  to  support  the  war,  may  make  our  frugality  necessary  ;  and, 
as  I  am  always  preaching  that  doctrine,  I  cannot  in  conscience  or  in 
decency  encourage  the  contrary  by  my  example,  in  furnishing  my 
children  with  foolish  modes  and  luxuries.  I  therefore  send  all  the 
articles  you  desire,  that  are  useful  and  necessary,  and  omit  the  rest." 

Such  fatherly  caution  must  have  been  a  blow  to 
poor  Mrs.  Bache.  Even  the  sternest  example  of 
unornamental  man  will  admit,  that  she  who  expects 
a  consignment  of  feathers  and  other  trifles  from 
Paris,   and   receives  only  "  useful  and  necessary  " 


1783]  A  Retrospect  313 

things,  is  pretty  sure  to  view  the  world  through 
darkened  glasses  for  at  least  twenty-four  unpleasant 
hours.  And  who  so  stoic,  even  though  she  be  the 
daughter  of  a  philosopher,  as  to  read  with  equa- 
nimity a  succeeding  clause  in  this  letter  ?  "If  you 
wear  your  cambric  rufifles  as  I  do,  and  take  care  not 
to  mend  the  holes,  they  will  come  in  time  to  be  lace  ; 
and  feathers,  my  dear  girl,  may  be  had  in  America 
from  every  cock's  tail."  This  was  unkind  unto  the 
verge  of  sarcasm. 

"  How  could  my  dear  papa  give  me  so  severe  a  reprimand,"  Mrs. 
Bache  wrote  back  to  her  father,  "for  wishing  a  little  finery.  He 
would  not,  I  am  sure,  if  he  knew  how  much  I  have  felt  it.  Last 
winter  (in  consequence  of  the  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne),  was  a 
season  of  triumph  to  the  Whigs,  and  they  spent  it  gaily ;  you  would 
not  have  had  me,  I  am  sure,  stay  away  from  the  Embassador's  or 
Gerard's  entertainments,  nor  when  I  was  invited  to  spend  a  day  with 
General  Washington  and  his  lady  ;  and  you  would  have  been  the  last 
person,  I  am  sure,  to  have  wished  to  see  me  dressed  with  singularity. 
Though  I  never  loved  dress  so  much  as  to  wish  to  be  particularly  fine, 
yet  I  never  will  go  out  when  I  cannot  appear  so  as  to  do  credit  to  my 
family  and  husband.  The  Assembly  we  went  to,  as  Mr.  Bache  was 
particularly  chosen  to  regulate  them  ;  the  subscription  was  fifteen 
pounds  ;  but  to  a  subscription  ball  of  which  there  were  numbers,  we 
never  went  to  one,  though  always  asked.  I  can  assure  my  dear  papa 
that  industry  in  this  house  is  by  no  means  laid  aside  ;  but  as  to  spin- 
ning linnen,  we  cannot  think  of  that  till  we  have  got  that  wove  which 
we  spun  three  years  ago." 

If  Franklin  could  resist  this  bit  of  feminine  argu- 
ment, he  was  less  susceptible  to  family  affection 
than  we  are  warranted  in  thinking.  No  one  knew 
better  than  he — his  simplicity  nevertheless  and  not- 
withstanding— the  value  which  the  world  attached 
to  appearances.     He  was  neither  ostentatious  nor  a 


314  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

seeker  after  social  position,  but  he  was  quite  willing 
that  his  family  should  take  a  prominent  part  in  the 
life  about  them,  and  that  Mrs.  Bache  should  make 
a  pretty  figure  at  an  "  Assembly,"  which  was  then, 
as  now,  the  gathering-ground  of  Philadelphia's 
"  Four  Hundred." 

But  behold,  after  starting  out  to  trace  the  home 
ties  of  our  hero,  we  have  wandered  off  with  him  as 
far  away  as  France.  That,  perhaps,  is  pardonable. 
If  we  retrace  our  steps  and  look  into  the  Market 
Street  house,  in  the  old  days  of  his  editorial  energy, 
Franklin  may  often  be  found  absorbed  in  those 
electrical  researches  which  contributed  so  magnifi- 
cently to  his  fame.  It  was  during  a  visit  to  Boston, 
in  1746,  that  this  still  unexplored  department  of 
science  was  first  brought  to  his  attention,  through 
some  experiments  imperfectly  performed  by  Dr. 
Spence.  The  whole  subject  presented  a  new  field 
to  Franklin,  and  the  tests,  poor  as  they  were,  filled 
him  with  pleasure  and  ideas. 

"  Soon  after  my  return  to  Philadelphia,"  as  he  tells  us  in  the  Auto- 
biography, "  our  library  company  received  from  Mr.  P.  Collinson, 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  a  present  of  a  glass  tube, 
with  some  account  of  the  use  of  it  in  making  such  experiments.  I 
eagerly  seized  the  opportunity  of  repeating  what  I  had  seen  at  Bos- 
ton ;  and,  by  much  practice,  acquired  great  readiness  in  performing 
those,  also,  which  we  had  an  account  of  from  England,  adding  a 
number  of  new  ones.  I  say  much  practice,  for  my  house  was  con- 
tinually full,  for  some  time,  with  people  who  came  to  see  these  new 
wonders." 

This  rush  of  the  curious  promised  to  be  incon- 
venient, and  Franklin,  ever  fertile  of  expedient,  be- 
thought himself  of  a  remedy. 


FRANKLIN'S   ELECTRICAL  MACHINE. 

OWNED  BY  THE  FRANKLIN  INSTITUTE,    PHILADELPHIA. 


1783]  A  Retrospect  315 

"  To  divide  a  little  this  incumbrance  among  my  friends,  I  caused 
a  number  of  similar  tubes  to  be  blown  at  our  glass-uouse,  with  which 
they  furnished  themselves,  so  that  we  had  at  length  several  perform- 
ers. Among  these,  the  principal  was  Mr.  Kinnersley,  an  ingenious 
neighbour,  who,  being  out  of  business,  I  encouraged  to  undertake 
showing  the  experiments  for  money,  and  drew  up  for  him  two  lec- 
tures, in  which  the  experiments  were  ranged  in  such  order,  and  ac- 
companied with  such  explanations  in  such  method,  as  that  the 
foregoing  should  assist  in  comprehending  the  following.  He  pro- 
cured an  elegant  apparatus  for  the  purpose,  in  which  all  the  little 
machines  that  I  had  roughly  made  for  myself  were  nicely  formed  by 
instrument  makers.  His  lectures  were  well  attended,  and  gave  great 
satisfaction  ;  and  after  some  time  he  went  thro'  the  colonies,  exhibit- 
ing them  in  every  capital  town,  and  picked  up  some  money." 

Philadelphia,  it  seems,  almost  lost  her  sedate 
head  in  astonishment  at  the  mysterious  manifesta- 
tions. 

Franklin  wrote  to  Mr.  Collinson  the  accounts  of 
these  experiments,  but  the  Royal  Society,  before 
which  the  letters  were  read,  did  not  even  deem  them 
worth  printin<T  in  its  transactions.  As  for  one  paper, 
in  which  the  Philadelphian  had  the  temerity  to  sug- 
gest "  the  sameness  of  lightning  with  electricity  " — 
well,  so  "  absurd  "  a  theory  was  actually  laughed  at 
by  the  English  scientists !  A  copy  of  the  papers 
was,  however,  translated  into  French  and  printed 
in  Paris  with  surprising  results. 

"  The  publication  offended  the  Abbe  Nollet,  preceptor  in  natural 
philosophy  to  the  royal  family  and  an  able  experimenter,  who  had 
formed  and  published  a  theory  of  electricity,  which  then  had  the 
general  vogue.  He  could  not  at  first  believe  that  such  a  work  came 
from  America,  and  said  it  must  have  been  fabricated  by  his  enemies 
at  Paris,  to  decry  his  system.  Afterwards,  having  been  assured  that 
there  really  existed  such  a  person  as  Franklin  at  Philadelphia,  which 
he  had  doubted,  he  wrote  and  published  a  volume  of  Letters,  chiefly 


3i6  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

addressed  to  me,  defending  his  theory,  and  denying  the  verity  of  my 
experiments,  and  of  the  positions  deduced  from  them." 

The  doctor  did  not  answer  the  Abb6 — "  and  the 
event  gave  me  no  cause  to  repent  my  silence ;  for 
my  friend,  M.  le  Roy,  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Sciences,  took  up  my  cause  and  refuted  him ;  my 
book  was  translated  into  the  Italian,  German,  and 
Latin  languages;  and  the  doctrine  it  contained  was 
by  degrees  universally  adopted  by  the  philosophers 
of  Europe,  in  preference  to  that  of  the  Abbe;  so 
that  he  lived  to  see  himself  the  last  of  his  sect,  ex- 
cept Monsieur  B of  Paris,  his  eleve  and  imme- 
diate disciple." 

"What  gave  my  book  the  more  sudden  and  general  celebrity," 
continues  the  pleased  scientist,  "was  the  success  of  one  of  its  pro- 
posed experiments,  made  by  Messrs.  Dalibard  and  De  Lor  at  Marly, 
for  drawing  lightning  from  the  clouds.  This  engaged  the  public 
attention  everywhere.  M.  de  Lor,  who  had  an  apparatus  for  experi- 
mental philosophy,  and  lectured  in  that  branch  of  science,  undertook 
to  repeat  what  he  called  \k\&  Philadelphia  Expe?-i)?ients ;  and,  after 
they  were  performed  before  the  King  and  court,  all  the  curious  of 
Paris  flocked  to  see  them." 

And  the  writer  modestly  adds : 

"  I  will  not  swell  this  narrative  with  an  account  of  that  capital 
experiment,  nor  of  the  infinite  pleasure  I  received  in  the  success  of  a 
similar  one  I  made  soon  after  with  a  kite  at  Philadelphia,  as  both  are 
to  be  found  in  the  histories  of  electricity." 

This  experiment  of  the  kite,  by  which  Franklin 
gave  practical  illustration  to  his  discovery  of  the 
identity  of  lightning  with  the  electric  fluid,  must  be 
as  familiar  to  the  average  schoolboy  as  is  the  multi- 


1783]  A  Retrospect  317 

plication  table.  The  episode  has  been  as  much  im- 
mortalised as  the  story  of  the  George  Washington 
hatchet,  and  has  the  advantage,  unlike  the  latter 
classic,  of  being  absolute  fact.  Yet  when  Franklin, 
accompanied  by  his  son,  went  out  into  the  field — a 
field  which  now  forms  one  of  the  busiest  and  noisiest 
districts  of  Philadelphia — and  took  with  him  the 
silken  kite,  the  famous  key,  and  the  Leyden  jar,  he 
was  doing  something  more  than  furnishing  an  anec- 
dote for  children  or  literature  for  primers.  It  was 
posterity  at  large  that  was  to  thank  him ;  when  he 
brought  down  the  electric  message  from  the  clouds 
he  vindicated  a  mighty  thought,  and  incidentally 
put  in  his  debt  all  the  coming  generations. 

It  was  in  1752  that  the  kite  played  its  important 
part,  but  before  that  Franklin  had  astonished  the 
philosophical  world  by  a  wonderful  treatise  which 
he  styled  laboriously,  "  Opinions  and  Conjectures 
concerning  the  Properties  and  Effects  of  the  electri- 
cal Matter,  and  the  Means  of  preserving  Buildings, 
ships,  etc. ,  from  Lightning,  arising  from  Experiments 
and  Observations  made  at  Philadelphia,  1749."  In 
this  paper  he  suggested  the  famous  plan  of  placing 
on  a  high  tower  or  steeple  a  sort  of  sentry-box, 
"  bi^  enoucjh  to  contain  a  man  and  an  electric 
stand,"  and  from  the  middle  of  which  stand  an  iron 
rod,  pointed  very  sharp  at  the  end,  was  to  pass  out 
through  the  door.  Here  was  the  doctor's  idea  of 
drawing  off  the  fluid  through  the  power  of  points, 
by  the  lightning-rod,  for  he  asks  in  the  same  article 
whether  the  knowledge  of  this  power  may  not  be  of 
use  to  mankind  "  in  preserving  houses,  churches, 


3i8  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

ships,  etc.,  from  the  stroke  of  lightning,  by  direct- 
ing us  to  fix,  on  the  highest  parts  of  those  edifices, 
upright  rods  of  iron  made  sharp  as  a  needle,  and 
gilt  to  prevent  rusting,  and  from  the  foot  of  those 
rods,  a  wire  down  the  outside  of  the  building  into 
the  ground,  or  down  round  the  shrouds  of  a  ship, 
and  down  her  side  till  it  reaches  the  water. "  No 
wonder  that  the  purveyor  of  lightning-rods  had 
cause  to  bless  Franklin. 

As  the  Philadelphian  worked  away  at  his  beloved 
experiments,  giving  and  receiving  shocks,  meeting 
more  than  once  with  a  dangerous  accident,  using 
the  new  knowledge  as  a  spur  to  his  inventive  genius, 
and  elaborating  his  hypotheses  and  conclusions,  he 
waited  patiently  for  recognition  in  conservative 
England.  It  came  at  last,  although  not  soon 
enough  to  take  away  from  France  the  credit  of 
having  first  made  widely  known  the  most  daring 
scientist  of  the  age. 

"Dr.  Wright,  an  English  physician,  when  at  Paris" — we  quote 
from  the  Autobiography — "  wrote  to  a  friend,  who  was  of  the  Royal 
Society,  an  account  of  the  high  esteem  my  experiments  were  in  among 
the  learned  abroad,  and  of  their  wonder  that  my  writings  had  been  so 
little  noticed  in  England.  The  Society,  on  this,  resumed  the  con- 
sideration of  the  letters  that  had  been  read  to  them,  and  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Watson  drew  up  a  summary  account  of  them,  and  of  all  I  had 
afterwards  sent  to  England  on  the  subject,  which  he  accompanied 
with  some  praise  of  the  writer.  This  summary  was  then  printed  in 
their  transactions  ;  and  some  members  of  the  Society  in  London,  par- 
ticularly the  very  ingenious  Mr.  Canton,  having  verified  the  experi- 
ment of  procuring  lightning  from  the  clouds  by  a  pointed  rod,  and 
acquainting  them  with  the  success,  they  soon  made  me  more  than 
amends  for  the  slight  with  which  they  had  before  treated  me.  With- 
out my  having  made  any  application  for  that  honour,  they  chose  me 
a  member,  and  voted  that  I  should  be  excused  the  customary  pay- 


i^ssi  A  Retrospect  3^9 

ments,  which  would  have  amounted  to  twenty-five  guineas  ;  and  ever 
since  have  given  me  their  transactions  gratis." 

In  1753  Franklin  had  won  the  Copley  gold  medal, 
and  in  making  the  award  the  Earl  of  Macclesfield, 
then  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  was  pleased  to 
say  some  flattering  things  of  the  savant  of  the  back- 
woods, and  to  graciously  remark  that  "  though  some 
others  might  have  begun  to  entertain  suspicions  of 
an  analogy  between  the  effects  of  lightning  and 
electricity,  yet  he  took  Mr.  Franklin  to  be  the  first, 
who,  among  other  curious  discoveries,  undertook  to 
show  from  experiments  that  the  former  owed  its 
origin  entirely  to  the  latter."  *  It  was  recognition 
like  this  which  put  the  seal  of  English  approval  upon 
the  philosopher's  researches,  and  aided  indirectly, 
by  establishing  his  fame,  to  increase  his  political  in- 
fluence and  sphere  of  patriotic  usefulness.  When 
he  went  to  England  to  fight  the  Penns  he  was  some- 
thing more  than  "  B.  Franklin,  agent  " — he  was  a 
man  whose  name,  written  in  letters  of  electric  fire, 
could  never  die. 

Nor  does  it  appear  strange,  when  we  take  into 
consideration  the  character  of  Franklin,  that  these 
electrical  studies  formed  but  a  part  of  his  contribu- 
tions to  the  domain  of  science  and  invention.  His 
fund  of  ingenuity  and  diversity  of  theme  were  phe- 
nomenal. Navigation,  the  building  of  ships,  the 
consumption  of  smoke,  the  paving  and  cleaning  of 
streets,  ventilation,  agriculture,  the  temperature  of 
the  Gulf  Stream,  the  origin  of  storms,  and  the  treat- 

*  In  April,  1756,  Franklin  was  further  honoured  by  the  Royal 
Society,  which  elected  him  one  of  its  Fellows. 


320  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

ment  of  colds — upon  all  these  subjects,  not  to  speak 
of  others,  his  mind  found  an  occupation  for  which 
succeeding  generations  of  his  countrymen  have  been, 
or  should  have  been,  deeply  grateful.  He  made  the 
Armonica,*  he  brought  his  genius  into  the  region  of 
fire  and  chimneys,  and  he  invented  the  "  Franklin 
stove. ' '  Of  the  latter  device  he  published  a  descrip- 
tion— "  An  Account  of  the  new-invented  Pennsyl- 
vania Fireplaces,"  etc.  A  cleanly  printed  copy  of 
the  pamphlet  is  now  before  me,  and  a  reading  of  it 
shows  in  how  thoroughly  practical  a  manner  the 
creator  of  this  stove  went  into  the  business  of  dis- 
crediting the  old-fashioned  and  more  picturesque 
fireplace,  or  "  strong  drawing  chimneys,"  of  the 
day.  The  eye  falls  at  random  on  his  quotation  of  a 
Spanish  proverb : 


*  In  London  he  saw  for  the  first  time  an  instrument  consisting  of 
musical  glasses,  upon  which  tunes  were  played  by  passing  a  wet  finger 
around  their  brims.  He  was  charmed  with  the  sweetness  of  its  tones ; 
but  the  instrument  itself  seemed  to  him  an  imperfect  contrivance, 
occupying  much  space  and  limited  in  the  number  of  its  tones.  The 
glasses  were  arranged  on  a  table,  and  tuned  by  putting  water  into 
them  till  they  gave  the  notes  required.  After  many  trials  he  suc- 
ceeded in  constructing  an  instrument  pf  a  different  form,  more  com- 
modious, and  more  extended  in  the  compass  of  its  notes.  His  glasses 
were  made  in  the  shape  of  a  hemisphere,  with  an  open  neck  or  socket 
in  the  middle,  for  the  purpose  of  being  fixed,  on  an  iron  spindle. 
They  were  then  arranged  one  after  another,  on  this  spindle,  the 
largest  atone  end  and  gradually  diminishing  in  size  to  the  smallest 
at  the  other  end.  The  tones  depended  on  the  size  of  the  glasses. 
The  spindle,  with  its  series  of  glasses,  was  fixed  horizontally  in  a 
case,  and  turned  by  a  wheel  attached  to  its  larger  end,  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  a  common  spinning-wheel.  The  performer  sat  in  front  of  the 
instrument,  and  the  tones  were  brought  out  by  applying  a  wet  finger 
to  the  exterior  surface  of  the  glasses  as  they  turned  round. — Sparks. 


THE   PENNSYLVANIA    FIRE-PLACE. 


Profile  of  Franklin's  invention,  showing  (M)  mantlepiece,  (C)  funnel,  (B)  false 

back,  (E_)true  back,  (T)  top  of  fire-place,  (F)  front,  (A)  fire,  (D) 

air  box,  (K)  hole  in  side  plate,  (I,  H,  G)  fresh-air 

hollow,  (P)  passage  under  false  back. 


17S3]  A  Retrospect  321 

"If  the  wind  blows  on  you  through  a  hole, 
Make  your  will,  and  take  care  of  your  soul" 

— a  gloomy  couplet,  of  which  Franklin  hastens  to 
observe : 

"Women  particularly,  from  this  cause,  as  they  sit  much  in  the 
house,  get  colds  in  the  head,  rheums,  and  defluctions,  which  fall  into 
their  jaws  and  gums,  and  have  destroyed  early  many  a  fine  set  of 
teeth  in  these  northern  colonies.  Great  and  bright  fires  do  also  very 
much  contribute  to  damage  the  eyes,  dry  and  shrivel  the  skin,  and 
bring  on  early  the  appearances  of  old  age." 

That  was  a  threat  calculated  to  make  every  femi- 
nine reader  of  the  "  Account  "  a  ready  convert  to 
the  "  Franklin  stove."     Diplomatic  inventor! 

This  stove  was  a  free-will  offering  to  the  public; 
there  was  no  fortune  in  it  for  Franklin.  Governor 
Thomas  offered  to  give  him  a  patent  upon  the  de- 
vice, but  the  temptation  was  resisted  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that,  "  as  we  enjoy  great  advantages  froin  the 
inventions  of  others,  we  should  be  glad  of  an  oppor- 
tunity to  serve  others  by  inventions  of  ours;  and 
this  we  should  do  freely  and  generously  " — a  very 
worthy  motive  now  more  honoured  in  the  breach 
than  in  the  observance.  The  inventor  would,  in- 
deed, have  proved  a  poor  client  for  a  patent  lawyer, 
for  he  says : 

"  An  ironmonger  in  London,  however,  assuming  a  good  deal  of  my 
pamphlet,  and  working  it  up  into  his  own,  and  making  some  small 
changes  in  the  machine,  which  rather  hurt  its  operation,  got  a  patent 
for  it  there,  and  made,  as  I  was  told,  a  little  fortune  by  it.  And  this 
is  not  the  only  instance  of  patents  taken  out  for  my  inventions  by 
others,  tho'  not  always  with  the  same  success,  which  I  never  con- 
tested, as  having  no  desire  of  profiting  by  patents  myself,  and  hating 
disputes." 


322  Benjamin  Franklin  [1746- 

Such  was  Franklin,  with  the  comprehensiveness  of 
a  Galileo  and  the  practical  qualities,  let  us  say,  of  an 
Edison.  Soaring  one  moment  in  the  clouds  of  theo- 
ry, and  snatching  a  grand  truth  from  the  thunder- 
storm ;  the  next  moment  teaching  the  Americans 
how  to  warm  themselves.  In  both  moods  he  suc- 
ceeded ;  he  became  the  greatest  utilitarian  of  the 
age.  "  Whether  in  directing  the  construction  of 
chimneys  or  of  constitutions,  lecturing  on  the  saving 
of  candles  or  on  the  economy  of  national  revenues, 
he  was  still  intent  on  the  same  end,  the  question 
always  being  how  to  obtain  the  most  of  solid  tangi- 
ble advantage  by  the  plainest  and  easiest  means."  * 
To  prove  useful  became  to  him  a  business. 

In  Franklin's  writings  we  see  the  same  great  idea; 
he  wrote  for  a  purpose.  If  we  except  a  very  few  of 
his  contributions,  there  is  always  a  motive,  and  a 
practical  one,  lurking  beneath  the  surface,  and  it  is 
for  this  reason  that  the  pen  was  to  him  a  means 
rather  than  an  end.  With  the  furbelows  of  liter- 
ature he  bothered  himself  but  little,  although  he 
could  be  graceful  and  Addisonian  enough  when  he 
chose ;  to  pose  as  an  author  or  man  of  letters  was 
far  from  his  thoughts.  Thus  his  style  is  generally 
clear,  lucid,  direct,  rather  than  elegant;  the  reader 
gets  at  once  at  the  writer's  idea  without  becoming 
distracted  by  beauty  of  metaphor,  by  originality  of 
expression,  or  by  the  thousand  and  one  things  which 
distinguish  the  professional  book-maker  from  the 
lay  writer.  It  is  none  the  less  true  that  some  of 
Franklin's  papers  bid  fair  to  survive  as  long  as  there 

*  John  Foster 


1783]  A  Retrospect  323 

is  an  English  literature ;  that  many  of  them  afford 
as  much  interest  to-day  as  they  did  a  century  ago  or 
more,  and  that  they  have  already  outlived  the 
achievements  of  numberless  ambitious  authors  whose 
fame  has  sunk  into  the  limbo  of  oblivion.  W'hen 
the  philosopher  wrote  he  had  something  to  say,  and 
he  said  it  in  good,  well-chosen  English;  he  never 
soared  above  the  public  intelligence;  he  knew  just 
when  to  be  witty  and  when  grave;  and  he  was  able 
to  get  from  his  readers  the  greatest  possible  atten- 
tion with  a  minimum  of  effort  on  their  part.  That, 
in  brief,  is  the  secret  of  Franklin's  success  in  the 
empire  of  letters.  Essayists,  reformers,  and  states- 
men who  wish  to  hold  the  popular  ear  should  study 
his  methods. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  in  this  volume,  by  per- 
tinent quotations,  to  give  a  glimpse  of  the  doctor's 
style  and  scope  of  subject,  but  to  obtain  a  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  the  latter  it  is  necessary  to 
spend  some  hours  in  a  judicious  perusal  of  his  col- 
lected works.  The  task  always  repays  those  who 
undertake  it;  they  find  it  an  entertainment,  and  in- 
stead of  leaving  the  pages  with  the  sense  of  having 
delved  into  old-fashioned  pomposity,  they  come 
away  refreshed  and  amused.  Let  the  novice  read 
every  line  of  the  imperishable  Autobiography ,  glide 
almost  haphazard  through  the  great  mass  of  corre- 
spondence, and  then  take  two  or  three  of  the  Busy- 
body papers,  the  Necessary  Hints  to  those  that  zvould 
be  Rich,  the  Way  to  Wealth,  the  Dialogue  between 
X,Y  and  Z,  Cool  Thoughts,  the  Examination  before 
the  House  of  Covunons,  the  Rules  for  Reducing  a 


3^4 


Benjamin  Franklin 


[1783 


Great  Empire  to  a  Small  One,  and  the  Bagatelles. 
Having  done  this  he  has  acquired  a  delightful,  if  not 
exactly  a  profound,  impression  of  Franklin's  writ- 
ings, and  if  he  does  not  soon  return  to  the  occupa- 
tion, with  a  thirst  for  more  letters  and  more  essays, 
it  will  be  his  fault  or  misfortune  rather  than  that  of 
the  doctor.  Franklin  wrote  for  the  comprehension 
of  all  men;  they  who  run  may  read  him,  and  need 
not  tarry  by  the  way  to  organise  societies  wherewith 
to  ferret  out  his  meanings. 


CHx^PTER  XIII 

FINAL   DAYS 
I  784-1 790 

AVING  done  such  yeoman's  service  in 
the  establishment  of  peace,  Frank- 
hn's  thoughts  turned  again  towards 
the  home  wherein  he  might  await, 
in  semi-comfort  of  body  and  com- 
plete tranquillity  of  mind,  the  approach  of  that  Grim 
Visitor  who  had  so  considerately  allowed  him  to  ex- 
ceed the  three  score  and  ten  of  existence.  He  felt 
tired  and  feeble.  But  Congress  still  refused  to  re- 
call the  envoy,  and  his  stay  in  France  assumed  such 
a  length  that  he  began  to  fear  that  he  would  not 
have  left  enough  of  health  to  make  the  tossing  jour- 
ney to  America.  Still,  life  at  Passy  was  very 
charming;  friends  increased  as  the  months  glided 
on,  and  the  atmosphere  breathed  good-will  and  re- 
conciliation. "  It  is  a  sweet  word,"  the  philosopher 
had  said  of  that  self-same  reconciliation.  Possibly 
the  truism  came  home  to  him  when  William  Frank- 
lin, ex-American  and  at  present  in  London  as  a 
protege^  of  the    British  Government,    wrote    to    his 

325 


326  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

father,  in  the  summer  of  1784,  with  dutiful  tenders 
of  affection.  The  doctor  never  forgot  the  pohtical 
apostasy  of  his  son,*  but  he  was  ready  to  forgive; 
and  so  he  replied  that  he  would  be  glad  to  revive 
the  old  ties. 

"  It  will  be  very  agreeable  to  me  ;  indeed,  nothing  has  ever  hurt 
me  so  much,  and  affected  me  with  such  keen  sensations,  as  to  find 
myself  deserted  in  my  old  age  by  my  only  son  ;  and  not  only  deserted, 
but  to  find  him  taking  up  arms  against  me  in  a  cause,  wherein  my 
good  fame,  fortune,  and  life  were  all  at  stake.  You  conceived,  you 
say,  that  your  duty  to  your  King  and  regard  for  your  country  required 
this.  I  ought  not  to  blame  you  for  differing  in  sentiment  with  me  in 
public  affairs.  We  are  men,  all  subject  to  errors.  Our  opinions  are 
not  in  our  own  power  ;  they  are  formed  and  governed  much  by  cir- 
cumstances that  are  often  as  inexplicable  as  they  are  irresistible. 
Your  situation  was  such  that  few  would  have  censured  your  remaining 
neuter,  though  there  are  natural  duties  which  precede  political  ones, 
and  cannot  be  extinguished  by  them.  This  is  a  disagreeable  subject. 
I  drop  it ;  and  we  will  endeavour,  as  you  propose,  mutually  to  forget 
what  has  happened  relating  to  it,  as  well  as  we  can.     I  send  your  son 


*  Franklin  showed,  in  the  following  clause  of  his  will,  that  he  did 
not  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  forgetfulness.  "  To  my  son,  William 
Franklin,  late  Governor  of  the  Jerseys,  I  give  and  devise  all  the  lands 
I  hold  or  have  a  right  to,  in  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia,  to  hold  to 
him,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever.  I  also  give  to  him  all  my  books  and 
papers,  which  he  has  in  his  possession,  and  all  debts  standing  against 
him  on  my  account  books,  willing  that  no  payment  for,  nor  restitution 
of,  the  same  be  required  of  him  by  my  executors.  The  part  he  acted 
against  me  in  the  late  war,  which  is  of  public  notoriety,  will  account 
for  my  leaving  him  no  more  of  an  estate  he  endeavoured  to  deprive 
me  of."  William  Franklin  was  rewarded  for  his  Toryism  by  a  pen- 
sion from  the  British  Government.  He  spent  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  in  England,  and  lived  to  be  eighty-two  years  old.  The  son, 
William  Temple  Franklin,  went  to  England  after  the  death  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  ;  he  subsequently  edited,  and  poorly,  the  works  of  the 
latter  (he  tampered  with  the  wording  of  the  AtUobio^raph}')^  and  died 
at  Fans  in  1823, 


I790]  Final  Days  327 

[William  Temple  Franklin]  over  to  pay  his  duty  to  you.     You  will 
find  him  much  improved." 

In  the  same  letter  Franklin  says : 

"  I  did  intend  returning  this  year  ;  but  the  Congress,  instead  of 
giving  me  leave  to  do  so,  have  sent  me  another  commission,  which  will 
keep  me  here  at  least  a  year  longer,  and  perhaps  I  may  then  be  too 
old  and  feeble  to  bear  the  voyage.  I  am  here  among  a  people  that 
love  and  respect  me,  a  most  amiable  nation  to  live  with  ;  and  perhaps 
I  may  conclude  to  die  among  them  ;  for  my  friends  in  America  are 
dying  off,  one  after  another,  and  I  have  been  so  long  abroad  that  I 
should  now  be  almost  a  stranger  in  my  own  country." 

For  all  this  talk  as  to  dying  in  France,  Franklin 
really  wished  to  die  at  home.  Thrice  had  he  asked 
Congress  for  permission  to  return,  yet  it  was  not 
until  March,  1785,  that  the  long-desired  consent  was 
reluctantly  given,  and  that  Thomas  Jefferson  was 
appointed  to  succeed  him.  Jefferson  had  been  in 
France  for  some  months,  to  assist  in  making  com- 
mercial treaties  with  the  European  governments, 
and  it  remained  for  the  doctor,  ere  his  departure,  to 
conclude  a  compact  with  Prussia  which  Washington 
considered  to  be  the  most  liberal  treaty  ever  agreed 
upon  between  independent  nations.  Early  in  May 
the  retiring  minister  wrote  to  his  friend,  the  Count 
de  Vergennes,  explaining  that  his  ill-health  would 
not  permit  him  to  go  to  Versailles  for  farewell,  set- 
ting forth  his  appreciation  of  the  goodness  of  his 
Majesty  and  the  favours  of  De  Vergennes,  and 
praying  that  "  God  may  shower  down  his  blessings 
on  the  King,  the  Queen,  their  children,  and  all  the 
royal  family  to  the  latest  generations."  Little  did 
the  writer,  he  who  had  seen  so  much  of  the  sunshine 


328  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

of  France  and  so  little  of  its  gathering  clouds,  im- 
agine that  the  path  of  Louis  XVI.  and  Marie  An- 
toinette led  to  the  guillotine.  But  those  tragedies 
had  not  come  as  yet ;  the  King  could  still  dispense 
graciousness.  He  sent  to  the  republican  a  portrait 
of  the  royal  features,  set  with  over  four  hundred 
diamonds,  while  M.  de  Vergennes  wrote  a  pretty 
letter  of  good-bye.  The  passing  of  the  philosopher 
seemed  a  national  incident ;  Passy,  inconstant  Paris, 
even  France,  regretted  his  going;  friends  pressed 
him  to  remain ;  Madame  Helvetius,  and  the  worthy 
Brillon,  no  doubt  shed  tears. 

It  was  hard  to  leave  such  homage,  but  Philadel- 
phia triumphed.  On  the  i2thof  July,  1785,  Frank- 
lin set  out  for  Havre  in  a  comfortable  litter  belonging 
to  the  Queen,  and  "  carried  by  two  very  large 
mules."  With  him  went  his  two  grandsons.  At 
Nantes  the  Cardinal  de  la  Rochefoucauld  sent  word 
that  the  travellers  must  visit  his  chateau  at  Gaillon, 
playfully  adding  that  he  would  take  no  excuse;  for, 
being  all-powerful  in  his  archbishopric,  his  Emi- 
nence would  stop  them  nolens  volcns,  and  not  permit 
any  escape.  The  invitation  was  not  to  be  resisted ; 
the  Cardinal  did  the  honours  in  a  fashion  worthy  of 
his  rank.  Then  came  more  attentions  (among  them 
the  visit  of  a  deputation  from  the  Academy  of 
Rouen)  until  Havre  was  reached  on  the  i8th  of  the 
month.  Here  were  further  civilities,  and  four  days 
later  the  gratified  American  sailed  for  England, 
never  to  set  eyes  again  upon  the  country  which  had 
loved  him  so  well.  At  Southampton  he  was  wel- 
comed by  a  party  including  WilHam  Franklin  (with 


^79"]  Final  Days  329 

whom    he    had    a    formal    rcconciHation),    and    his 
staunch  friend,  the  good  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph. 

"The  Bishop  and  family  lodging  in  the  same  inn,  the  Star,'' 
Franklin  writes,  in  a  diary  of  the  journey,  "we  all  breakfast  and 
dine  together.  I  went  at  noon  to  bathe  in  Martin's  salt-water  hot- 
bath,  and  floating  on  my  back,  fell  asleep,  and  slept  near  an  hour  by 
my  watch,  without  sinking  or  turning  !  A  thing  I  never  did  before, 
and  should  hardly  have  thought  possible.  Water  is  the  easiest  bed 
that  can  be." 

If  the  diarist  was  not  recording  this  incident  in  a 
Pickwickian  sense  he  acquitted  himself,  for  a  feeble 
old  man,  with  remarkable  aquatic  vigour. 

The  middle  of  September  found  the  wanderer 
home  again,  hardly  more  shaky  in  his  legs  than  he 
had  been  when  he  sailed  from  England,  and  with  a 
mind  still  so  bright  that  he  had  written  three  pam- 
phlets during  the  voyage. 

"  With  the  flood  in  the  morning  "—he  jots  down  this  entry  as  the 
ship  comes  up  the  familiar  Delaware—' '  came  a  light  breeze,  which 
brought  us  above  Gloucester  Point,  in  full  view  of  dear  Philadelphia  ! 
when  we  again  cast  anchor,  to  wait  for  the  health  officer,  who,  having 
made  his  visit  and  finding  no  sickness,  gave  us  leave  to  land.  My 
son-in-law  came  with  a  boat  for  us;  we  landed  at  Market  street 
wharf,  where  we  were  received  by  a  crowd  of  people  with  huzzas, 
and  accompanied  with  acclamations  quite  to  my  door.  Found  my 
family  well.     God  be  praised  and  thanked  for  all  His  mercies  !  " 

Did  Franklin  contrast  this  last  river-entry  into 
Philadelphia  with  the  first  ?  If  he  did,  he  may 
have  smiled  at  the  turn  which  the  wheel  of  fortune 
had  made,  and  possibly  reflected  that  he  himself 
had  much  to  do  with  the  revolution  thereof. 
Nothing  could  have  exceeded  in  enthusiastic  sincer- 


33^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

ity  the  reception  given  him  upon  this  return.  The 
citizens  flocked  to  pay  their  respects;  societies 
waited  upon  him,  and  the  Assembly  drew  up  an 
address  wherein  it  was  said,  with  more  truth  than  is 
usually  to  be  found  in  such  official  flattery,  that  the 
philosopher's  services  would  be  "  recorded  in  the 
pages  of  history  "  to  his  "  immortal  honour." 
Then  General  Washington  wrote  a  letter  of  wel- 
come: 

"  Amid  che  public  congratulations  on  your  safe  return  to  America, 
after  a  long  absence  and  the  many  eminent  services  you  have  ren- 
dered it,  for  which  as  a  benefitted  person  I  feel  the  obligation,  permit 
an  individual  to  join  the  public  voice  in  expressing  a  sense  of  them  ; 
and  to  assure  you,  that,  as  no  one  entertains  more  respect  for  your 
character,  so  no  one  can  salute  you  with  more  sincerity  or  with  greater 
pleasure,  than  I  do  on  the  occasion." 

How  Washingtonian  this  was,  and  how  it  must 
have  pleased  the  recipient! 

Franklin  might  luxuriate  in  the  attentions  of  his 
daughter  and  grandchildren,  but  a  part  of  his  time 
must  again  be  given  to  the  public.  His  election  to 
the  Council  was  followed  by  a  far  more  ambitious  ele- 
vation to  the  Presidency  of  Pennsylvania,  a  position 
in  which  he  served  the  State  effectively,  exerted  an 
influence  at  once  imposing  and  benign,  and  laboured 
without  personal  profit,  indirect  or  pecuniary.  Yet 
the  doctor's  energies  as  head  of  a  great  Common- 
wealth were  trifling  compared  to  his  usefulness  as  a 
member  of  the  memorable  Convention  which  met  in 
Philadelphia  (May,  1787)  to  frame  a  constitution 
for  the  better  union  of  the  loosely  jointed  States  of 
America.     Here  his  ripened  wisdom  and  knowledge 


SOUP  DISHES  FOR  SHIPBOARD. 


THE  RIGGING  OF  A  SHALLOP. 


MARITIME  OBSERVATIONS 

AFTER  DESIGNS  OF  NAUTICAL  IMPROVEMENTS  SUGGESTED  BY  FRANKLIN. 


I790]  Final  Days  331 

of  affairs  played  a  leading,  if  unostentatious  part  in 
bringing  the  nation  under  a  federal  system  which  has 
now  withstood  the  wear  and  tear  of  over  a  century. 
The  period  from  the  surrender  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  to  the  holding  of  the  Convention  was  one  of 
the  most  critical  in  our  history.  Although  the 
Revolution  had  succeeded,  there  was  no  cohesion 
between  the  several  States ;  the  country  was  in  a  con- 
dition of  unrest  born  of  internal  weakness;  opinions 
as  to  method  of  government  were  divided,  and  the 
outlook  grew  gloomy  and  then  gloomier. 

"The  want  of  power  in  the  central  government,  arising  from  the 
defects  of  the  old  confederation,  was  becoming  more  and  more  ap- 
parent, and  the  evils  arising  from  this  want  of  power  were  pressing 
severely  on  every  side.  While  the  war  lasted  the  external  pressure 
held  the  government  together  ;  but  on  the  return  of  peace  its  dissolu- 
tion had  become  imminent.  ...  It  had,  in  fact,  no  power  to 
regulate  commerce  or  collect  a  revenue.  This  made  it  incapable  of 
executing  treaties,  fulfilling  its  foreign  engagements,  or  causing 
itself  to  be  respected  by  foreign  nations.  While  at  home,  its  weak- 
ness was  disgusting  the  public  creditors  and  raising  a  clamour  of  dis- 
content and  dissatisfaction  on  every  side.  An  alarming  crisis  was 
rapidly  approaching."* 

Thoughtful  Americans  clearly  saw  the  threaten- 
ing danger. 

"  Our  affairs,"  as  John  Jay  wrote  to  Washington  in  the  .summer  of 
1786,  "seem  to  lead  to  some  crisis,  some  revolution — something  that 
I  cannot  foresee  or  conjecture.  I  am  uneasy  and  apprehensive,  more 
so  than  during  the  war.  Then  we  had  a  fixed  object,  and  though  the 
means  and  time  of  obtaining  it  were  often  problematical,  yet  I  did 
firmly  believe  that  justice  was  with  us.  The  case  is  now  altered  ;  we 
are  going  and  doing  wrong,  and  therefore  I  look  forward  to  evils  and 
calamities,  but  without  being  able  to  guess  at  the  instrument,  nature, 
or  measure  of  them." 


*  The  Life  and  Times  of  Washington,  by  J.  F.  Schrocder,  D.D, 


33^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

In  his  reply  Washington  was  no  less  apprehensive. 

"  Things  cannot  go  on  in  the  same  train  forever,"  he  said,  with 
calm  sagacity.  "It  is  much  to  be  feared,  as  you  observe,  that  the 
better  kind  of  people,  being  disgusted  with  these  circumstances,  will 
have  their  minds  prepared  for  any  revolution  whatever.  We  are  apt 
to  run  from  one  extreme  into  another.  To  anticipate  and  prevent 
disastrous  contingencies,  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  and  patriotism. 
What  astonishing  changes  a  few  years  are  capable  of  producing  !  I 
am  told  that  even  respectable  characters  speak  of  a  monarchical  form 
of  government  without  horror.  From  thinking  proceeds  speaking  : 
thence  to  acting  is  often  but  a  single  step.  But  how  irrevocable  and 
tremendous  !  what  a  triumph  for  our  enemies  to  verify  their  predic- 
tions !  What  a  triumph  for  the  advocates  of  despotism,  to  find  that 
we  are  incapable  of  governing  ourselves,  and  that  systems  founded 
on  the  basis  of  equal  liberty  are  merely  ideal  and  fallacious  !  " 

Was  the  glory  of  the  Revolution  to  be  tarnished 
by  anarchy,  or  would  a  despotism  far  greater  than 
the  overthrown  British  rule  fasten  its  clutches  upon 
the  land  ?  The  question  was  hard  to  answer,  and 
none  the  less  so  when  the  band  of  rebels  under 
Daniel  Shay  frightened  the  law-preserving  people  of 
Massachusetts,  by  demands  which  we  should  now 
term  populistic. 

The  insurrection  came  to  an  end,  and  when  the 
delegates  from  all  the  States  (Rhode  Island  alone 
excepted)  assembled  in  Philadelphia  on  that  May 
morning  of  1787,  the  eyes  of  a  waiting  nation  were 
upon  them.  The  results  of  the  four  months'  delib- 
erations, with  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  draught- 
ing the  constitution,  are  matters  of  familiar  history.* 
Throughout  the  sessions  the  helping  hand  and  pru- 


*  One  party  in  the  Convention  was  anxious  to  enlarge,  another  to 
abridge,  the  authority  delegated  to  the  general  government.     This 


i79o]  Final  Days  ^3:^ 

dent  common  sense  of  Franklin  exerted  an  influence 
destined  to  leave  an  imperishable  impress.  Indeed, 
Mr.  Bigelow  has  said  that  to  Franklin,  perhaps  more 
than  to  any  other  man,  "  the  present  constitution 
of  the  United  States  owes  most  of  those  features 
which  have  given  it  durability,  and  have  made  it  the 
ideal  by  which  all  other  systems  of  government  are 
tested  by  Americans."  The  instrument,  as  adopted, 
was  not,  of  course,  just  what  Franklin  would  have 
made  it  had  his  opinion  been  followed  in  all  things. 
He  was  in  favour  of  making  the  Presidential  term 
seven  years,  the  incumbent  being  debarred  from  a 
second  term,  and  he  was  Utopian  enough  to  urge 
that  the  executive  should  receive  no  salary. 

"  I  think,"  said  he,  "  I  see  inconveniences  in  the  appointment  of 
salaries  ;  I  see  none  in  refusing  them,  but,  on  the  contrary,  great 
advantages.  Sir,  there  are  two  passions  which  have  a  powerful  influ- 
ence on  the  affairs  of  men.  These  are  ambition  and  avarice ;  the 
love  of  power  and  the  love  of  money.  Separately,  each  of  these  has 
great  force  in  prompting  men  to  action  ;  but,  when  united  in  view  of 
the  same  object,  they  have  in  many  minds  the  most  violent  effects. 
Place  before  the  eyes  of  such  men  a  post  of  /loiiour,  that  shall  at  the 
same  time  be  a  place  oi  profit,  and  they  will  move  heaven  and  earth 
to  obtain  it."  And  what  kind  of  men,  asked  the  doctor,  will  strive 
for  the  Presidency,  "  through  all  the  bustle  of  cabal,  the  heat  of  con- 
tention, the  infinite  mutual  abuse  of  parties,  tearing  to  pieces  the 
best  of  characters?"  "It  will  not  be  the  wise  and  moderate,  the 
lovers  of  peace  and  good  order,  the  men  fitted  for  the  trust.  It  will 
be  the  bold  and  the  violent,  the  men  of  strong  passions  and  indefat- 
igable activity  in  their  selfish  pursuits.  These  will  thrust  themselves 
into  your  government  and  be  your  rulers." 

was  the  first  germ  of  parties  in  the  United  States  ;  not  that  materials 
were  wanting,  for  the  dissensions  of  the  Revolution  had  left  behind 
some  bitterness  of  spirit,  and  feelings  that  only  awaited  an  oppor- 
tunity for  their  disclosure.— John  Howard  Hinton. 


334  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

That  the  delegate  failed  to  carry  his  point  is,  per- 
haps, just  as  well,  for  a  non-salaried  Presidency 
would  have  become  an  office  only  adapted  to 
wealthy  incumbents. 

But  it  was  in  settling  the  vexed  problem  as  to  the 
basis  of  representation  between  the  large  and  small 
States  of  the  Union  that  Franklin  put  the  Conven- 
tion, and  the  nation,  under  an  eternal  obligation. 
The  question  threatened  to  imperil  the  success  of 
the  deliberations,  for  while  the  more  populous  States 
desired  representation  according  to  their  importance 
and  extent,  the  lesser  ones  were  jealous  of  any 
system  tending  to  diminish  their  own  power.  At 
this  point  Franklin  proposed  that  the  session  should 
be  opened  each  day  with  prayer,  so  as  to  secure  the 
assistance  of  Providence  in  bringing  order  out  of 
chaos,    and    a    constitution    out    of    disagreement. 

The  small  progress  we  have  made,  after  four  or 
five  weeks'  close  attendance  and  continual  reasonings 
with  each  other,  our  different  sentiments  on  almost 
every  question,  and  several  of  the  last  producing 
as  many  Noes  as  Ayes,  is,  methinks,  a  melancholy 
proof  of  the  imperfection  of  the  human  understand- 
ing." Thus  he  addressed  Washington,  who  presided 
over  the  Convention,  and  to  remedy  this  uncer- 
tainty he  suggested  a  daily  prayer  for  inspiration. 
The  motion  was  rejected.  Later  on  Franklin  came 
forward  with  another  remedy — a  compromise,  of 
which  it  has  been  said  that  it  saved  the  Union.  His 
first  contention  had  been  for  a  single  legislative 
body,  but  now  he  proposed,  as  a  concession  in- 
tended to  destroy  the  jealousies  and  fears  of  the 


i79o]  Final  Days  335 

various  States,  that  there  should  be  two  Houses, 
with  equal  representation  of  States  in  the  Senate, 
and  with  representation  according  to  population  in 
the  lower  House.  The  bitterly  contested  issue  was 
solved,  and  the  fruits  of  that  compromise  are  seen 
in  our  government  as  it  is  constituted  to-day.  At 
the  age  of  eighty-one  the  philosopher  had  given  one 
of  the  most  enduring  proofs  of  his  powers  of  state- 
craft ;  he  had  shown  anew  that  nobly  could  he  serve 
his  exacting  master,  the  Public. 

Franklin  did  not  flatter  himself  that  the  constitu- 
tion, as  finally  agreed  upon,  was  a  perfect  affair,  but 
he  believed,  prophetically  enough,  that  it  would 
serve  its  great  purpose. 

"  I  doubt,"  said  he,  "  whether  any  other  Convention  we  can  ob- 
tain, may  be  able  to  make  a  better  constitution  ;  for,  when  you  as- 
semble a  number  of  men,  to  have  the  advantage  of  their  joint 
wisdom,  you  inevitably  assemble  with  these  men  all  their  prejudices, 
their  passions,  their  errors  of  opinion,  their  local  interests,  and  their 
selfish  views.  From  such  an  assembly,"  he  asks,  "can  a  perfect 
production  be  expected  ?" 

He  confesses,  in  his  speech  at  the  close  of  the 
Convention,  that  he  is  astonished  to  find  the  consti- 
tution so  near  perfection  as  it  is — "  and  I  think  it 
will  astonish  our  enemies,  who  are  waiting  with  con- 
fidence to  hear  that  our  counsels  are  confounded 
like  those  of  the  builders  of  Babel,  and  that  our 
States  are  on  the  point  of  separation,  only  to  meet 
hereafter  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  one  another's 
throats.  Thus,  I  consent,  sir,  to  this  constitution, 
because  I  expect  no  better,  and  because  I  am  not 
sure  that  it  is  not  the  best.     The  opinions  I  have 


^3^  Benjamin  Franklin  [17^4- 

had  of  its  errors  I  sacrifice  to  tlie  public  good." 
It  was  the  singular  good  fortune  of  Franklin  that 
having  signed  the  constitution  he  likewise  lived  long 
enough  to  see  its  ratification,  and  to  witness  the 
election  of  Washington  as  first  President  of  the 
nation  which  the  two  of  them  had  helped  so  valiantly 
to  create. 

The  doctor's  end  was  not  far  away;  infirmities 
were  increasing,  and  a  serious  internal  trouble 
began  to  undermine  his  once  rugged  constitution. 
Yet  he  took  the  same  keen  enjoyment  in  life  as  of 
old,  and  found  in  correspondence  the  familiar 
pleasure.  Letters  on  all  conceivable  subjects  illu- 
mine these  final  years  with  a  brilliance  more  akin  to 
the  noonday  sun  than  to  the  twilight  of  genius. 
Would  that  he  had  finished  \\\q  AiLtobiography  while 
the  hand  remained  to  guide  the  ready  pen.  He 
writes  to  his  friend,  M.  Le  Veillard  (February, 
1788),  that  he  would  have  gone  on  with  the  mem- 
oirs "  if  I  could  well  have  avoided  accepting  the 
chair  of  President  [of  Pennsylvania]  for  this  third 
and  last  year;  to  which  I  was  again  elected  by  the 
unanimous  voice  of  the  Council  and  General  As- 
sembly in  November.  If  I  live  to  sec  this  year  ex- 
pire, I  may  enjoy  some  leisure,  which  I  promise 
you  to  employ  in  the  work  you  do  me  the  honour 
to  urge  so  earnestly."  The  Aiitobiograpliy  was  con- 
tinued, but  death  found  the  narrative  provokingly 
incomplete.  It  must  not,  however,  be  forgotten 
that  in  keeping  up  his  correspondence  until  the  very 
last  the  veteran  was  finishing  an  autobiography  less 
connected,  yet  hardly  less  interesting,  than  a  more 


I790]  Final  Days  337 

formal  record.  There  are  pretty  little  touches  in 
these  sunset  letters,  as  when,  for  instance,  Franklin 
tells  Madame  Lavoisier: 

"  I  have  a  long  time  been  disabled  from  writing  to  my  dear  friend, 
by  a  severe  fit  of  the  gout,  or  I  should  sooner  have  returned  my 
thanks  for  her  very  kind  present  of  the  portrait,  which  she  has  her- 
self done  me  the  honour  to  make  of  me.  It  is  allowed  by  those, 
who  have  seen  it,  to  have  great  merit  as  a  picture  in  every  respect  ; 
but  what  particularly  endears  it  to  me  is  the  hand  that  drew  it.  Our 
English  enemies,  when  they  were  in  possession  of  this  city  and  my 
house  [one  of  the  enemies  thus  accused,  probably  wrongly,  was 
Andre],  made  a  prisoner  of  my  portrait,  and  carried  it  off  with  them, 
leaving  that  of  its  companion,  my  wife,  by  itself,  a  kind  of  widow. 
You  have  replaced  the  husband,  and  the  lady  seems  to  smile  as  well 
pleased.  It  is  true,  as  you  observe,  that  I  enjoy  here  everything  a 
reasonable  mind  can  desire,  a  sufficiency  of  income,  a  comfortable 
habitation  of  my  own  building,  having  all  the  conveniences  I  could 
imagine  ;  a  dutiful  and  affectionate  daughter  to  nurse  and  take  care 
of  me,  a  number  of  promising  grandchildren,  some  old  friends  still 
remaining  to  converse  with,  and  more  respect,  distinction,  and  public 
honours  than  I  can  possibly  merit.  These  are  the  blessings  of  God, 
and  depend  on  His  continued  goodness  ;  yet  all  do  not  make  me  for- 
get Paris,  and  the  nine  years'  happiness  I  enjoyed  there,  in  the  sweet 
society  of  a  people  whose  conversation  is  instructive,  whose  manners 
are  highly  pleasing,  and  who,  above  all  the  nations  of  the  world, 
have,  in  the  greatest  perfection,  the  art  of  making  themselves  be- 
loved by  strangers.  And  now,  even  in  my  sleep,  I  find,  that  the 
scenes  of  all  my  pleasant  dreams  are  laid  in  that  city,  or  in  its  neigh- 
bourhood." 

Another  letter  of  a  far  different  kind  is  addressed 
to  the  President  of  Congress,  and  prays  that  Frank- 
lin's accounts  with  the  government  may  be  audited 
and  settled. 

"  It  is  now  more  than  three  years  that  those  accounts  have  been 
before  that  honourable  body,"  he  explains,  "and,  to  this  day,  no 


33^  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

notice  of  any  such  objection  [as  to  the  accuracy  of  these  accounts] 
has  been  communicated  to  me.  But  reports  have,  for  some  time 
past,  been  circulated  here,  and  propagated  in  the  newspapers,  that  I 
am  greatly  indebted  to  the  United  States  for  large  sums,  that  had 
been  put  into  my  hands,  and  that  I  avoid  a  settlement.  This,  to- 
gether with  the  little  time  one  of  my  age  may  expect  to  live,  makes 
it  necessary  for  me  to  request  earnestly,  which  I  hereby  do,  that  the 
Congress  would  be  pleased,  without  further  delay,  to  examine  those 
accounts,  and  if  they  find  therein  any  article  or  articles,  which  ihey 
do  not  understand  or  approve,  that  they  would  cause  me  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  same,"  etc. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  the  newspaper 
reports  were  untrue,  and  that  if  there  happened  to  be 
any  question  as  to  balance  due,  the  doctor  was  the 
creditor  and  not  the  debtor.  But  Congress,  no 
longer  as  noble  a  body  as  in  the  days  of  'y6,  did 
not  take  the  trouble  to  grant  his  request. 

Of  the  rancour  of  the  press,  from  which,  as  we 
have  just  seen,  even  he  was  not  altogether  exempt, 
Franklin  had  something  trenchant  to  say  in  a  satire 
which  he  published  in  the  September  of  1789,  after 
he  had  retired  from  public  life  and  was  fast  nearing 
the  end  of  all  earthly  controversy.  "  An  Account 
of  the  Supremest  Court  of  Judicature  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, viz.  the  Court  of  the  Press  "  was  the  suggest- 
ive title  of  the  brochure,  and  in  it  the  writer  asserted 
that  the  aforesaid  court  had  been  established  in 
favour  "  of  about  one  citizen  in  five  hundred,  who, 
by  education  or  practice  in  scribbling,  has  acquired 
a  tolerable  style  as  to  grammar  and  construction,  so 
as  to  bear  printing,  or  who  is  possessed  of  a  press 
and  a  few  types.  This  five-hundredth  part  of  the 
citizens  have  the  privilege  of  accusing  and  abusing 


I790]  Final  Days  339 

the  other  four  hundred  and  ninety-nine  parts  at 
their  pleasure;  or  they  may  hire  out  their  pens  and 
press  to  others  for  that  purpose."  The  support  of 
such  an  institution,  it  was  contended  cynically,  was 
founded  in  the  depravity  of  such  minds,  as  have 
not  been  mended  by  religion,  nor  improved  by  good 
education : 

"  '  There  is  a  lust  in  man  no  charm  can  tame, 
Of  loudly  publishing  his  neighbour's  shame.' 

Hence: 

"  '  On  eagle's  wings  immortal  scandals  fly, 

While  virtuous  actions  are  but  born  and  die.' 

— Dkyden. 

"  Whoever  feels  pain  in  hearing  a  good  character  of  his  neighbour, 
will  feel  a  pleasure  in  the  reverse.  And  of  those  who,  despairing 
to  rise  into  distinction  by  their  virtues,  are  happy  if  others  can  be 
depressed  to  a  level  with  themselves,  there  are  a  number  sufficient  in 
every  great  town  to  maintain  one  of  these  courts  by  their  subscrip- 
tion. A  shrewd  observer  once  said,  that,  in  walking  the  streets  in  a 
slippery  morning,  one  might  see  where  the  good-natured  people 
lived  by  the  ashes  thrown  on  the  ice  before  their  doors  ;  probably  he 
would  have  formed  a  different  conjecture  of  the  temper  of  those 
whom  he  might  find  engaged  in  such  a  subscription." 

Journalism  of  to-day  does  not,  as  a  whole,  justify 
this  estimate  of  a  past  condition,  although  even  now 
there  are  a  few  newspapers  which  do  not  put  ashes 
in  front  of  their  doors.  Franklin  ends  his  critique 
by  asking  how  the  abuse  of  libel  is  to  have  checks 
placed  upon  it. 

"Hitherto  there  are  none,"  he  says.  "But  since  so  much  has 
been  written  and  published  on  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  checks  in  all  other  parts  of  good  government  has  been  so 


340  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

clearly  and  learnedly  explained,  I  find  myself  so  far  enlightened  as  to 
suspect  some  check  may  be  proper  in  this  part  also  ;  but  I  have  been 
at  a  loss  to  imagine  any  that  may  not  be  construed  an  infringement 
of  the  sacred  liberty  of  the  press.  At  length,  however,  I  think  I  have 
found  one  that,  instead  of  diminishing  general  liberty,  shall  augment 
it ;  which  is,  by  restoring  to  the  people  a  species  of  liberty,  of  which 
they  have  been  deprived  by  our  laws,  I  mean  the  liberty  of  the  cudgel. 
In  the  rude  state  of  society  prior  to  the  existence  of  laws,  if  one  man 
gave  another  ill  language,  the  affronted  person  would  return  it  by  a 
box  on  the  ear,  and,  if  repeated,  by  a  good  drubbing  ;  and  this  with- 
out offending  against  any  law.  But  now  the  right  of  making  such 
returns  is  denied,  and  they  are  punished  as  breaches  of  the  peace ; 
while  the  right  of  abusing  seems  to  remain  in  full  force,  the  laws 
made  against  it  being  rendered  ineffectual  by  the  liberty  of  the  press. 
My  proposal  then  is,  to  leave  the  liberty  of  the  press  untouched,  to  be 
exercised  in  its  full  extent,  force  and  vigour ;  but  to  permit  the 
liberty  of  the  cudgel  to  go  with  it  par  passu.  Thus,  my  fellow-citi- 
zens, if  an  impudent  writer  attacks  your  reputation,  dearer  to  you 
perhaps  than  }our  life,  and  puts  his  name  to  the  charge,  you  may  go 
to  him  as  openly  and  break  his  head.  If  he  conceals  himself  behind 
the  printer,  and  you  can  nevertheless  discover  who  he  is,  you  may  in 
like  manner  way-lay  him  in  the  night,  attack  him  behind,  and  give 
him  a  good  drubbing.  ...  If,  however,  it  should  be  thought 
that  proposal  of  mine  may  disturb  the  public  peace,  I  would  then 
humbly  recommend  to  our  legislators  to  take  up  the  consideration  of 
both  liberties,  that  of  the  press,  and  that  of  the  cudgel,  and  by  an 
explicit  law  mark  their  extent  and  limits  ;  and,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  secure  the  person  of  a  citizen  from  assaults,  they  would  likewise 
provide  for  the  security  of  his  reputation." 

This  was  a  pretty  virile  protest  for  an  octogenar- 
ian, to  whom  life,  through  the  inroads  of  disease, 
was  now  become  a  physical  burden.  Franklin 
passed  much  of  his  time  in  bed,  and  he  wrote  to 
Washington  that  "  for  my  own  personal  ease  I 
should  have  died  two  years  ago ;  but,  though  those 
years  have  been  spent  in  excruciating  pain,  I  am 
pleased   that    I  have  lived  them,   since  they  have 


WATER   UMBRELLA. 


MARITIME  OBSERVATIONS. 

AFTER  DESIGNS  OF  NAUTICAL  IMPROVEMENTS  SUGGESTED  BY  FRANKUN. 


I790]  Final  Days  34 1 

brought  me  to  see  our  present  situation."  Ill  as  he 
was,  his  interest  in  America  and  in  humanity  at  large 
never  flagged ;  less  than  a  month  before  his  death 
the  philosopher  issued  a  parody  directed  against  the 
slave  trade,  and  practically  in  support  of  the  aims 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  Promoting  the 
Abolition  of  Slavery,  of  which  he  was  the  Presi- 
dent. He  was  often  a  prey  to  the  most  intense 
suffering — so  much  so,  indeed,  that  strong  sedatives 
were  given  him — but  at  other  times  he  read,  talked 
with  members  of  the  household  or  with  visitors, 
and  in  every  instance,  as  his  physician  related,  "  dis; 
played  not  only  that  readiness  and  disposition  of 
doing  good,  which  was  the  distinguishing  character- 
istic of  his  life,  but  the  fullest  and  clearest  possession 
of  his  uncommon  mental  abilities;  and  not  infre- 
quently indulged  himself  in  those  j'ciix  d' esprit  and 
entertaining  anecdotes  which  were  the  delight  of  all 
who  heard  him."  Early  in  April  of  1790,  the  con- 
dition of  the  patient  was  complicated  by  a  fever; 
this  finally  left  him,  and  the  family  were  beginning 
to  hope  for  at  least  a  rally  when  respiration  became 
difficult,  a  stupor  ensued,  and  during  the  evening 
of  the  seventeenth  of  the  month  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  peacefully  released  from  the  world  wherein  he 
had  played  so  earnest  and  glowing  a  part.  A  great 
light  had  gone  out;  there  was  darkness  in  Philadel- 
phia  that  night. 

The  funeral  of  Franklin  was  in  harmony  with  the 
reputation  that  he  left  behind  him.  There  was 
dignified  ceremonial  rather  than  ostentation,  and 
sincere  sorrow  instead  of  expressions  of  perfunctory 


342  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

sympathy.  His  body  was  laid  beside  that  of  his 
wife  in  Christ  Church  burying-ground,  and  over 
twenty  thousand  citizens  took  part  in  the  proces- 
sion which  marched  to  Fifth  and  Arch  Streets  to 
the  accompaniment  of  tolling  bells  and  the  firing  of 
minute  guns.*  Eloquent  tributes  to  the  virtues  of 
the  deceased  came  from  all  quarters,  and  in  Con- 
gress it  was  resolved  unanimously  that  the  members 
should  wear  a  badge  of  mourning  for  one  month, 
"  as  a  mark  of  due  veneration  to  the  memory  of  a 
citizen  whose  native  genius  was  not  more  an  orna- 
ment to  human  nature  than  his  various  exertions  of 


*  The  tomb  of  Franklin  and  his  wife  bears  but  this  inscription  • 
Benjamin  \ 

AND       >■  Franklin 
Deborah  ; 
1790. 
The  simplicity  of  the  wording  was  in  accord  with  the  instructions 
contained  in  Franklin's  will.     Nothing  was  said  therein  about  the 
fanciful  epitaph  which  he  wrote  for  himself  when  twenty-three  years 
old,  to  wit  : 

The  Body 

OF 

Benjamin  Franklin 
Printer 

(Like  the  cover  of  an  old  book 

Its  contents  torn  out 
And  stript  of  its  lettering  and  gilding) 

Lies  here,  food  for  worms. 
But  the  work  shall  not  be  lost 

For  it  will  (as  he  believed)  appear  once  more 
In  a  new  and  more  elegant  edition 

Revised  and  corrected 

by 

The  Author. 


1790] 


Final  Days  343 


it  have  been  precious  to  science,  to  freedom,  and  to 
his  country."  In  France  the  respect  and  affection 
for  the  memory  of  the  dead  philosopher  had  striking 
illustration. 

"  Franklin  is  dead  !"  said  Mirabeau  solemnly,  as  he  addressed  the 
National  Assembly.  "  The  genius  which  gave  freedom  to  America, 
and  scattered  torrents  of  light  upon  Europe,  is  returned  to  the  bosom 
of  the  Divinity.  The  sage,  whom  two  worlds  claim  ;  the  man,  Dis- 
puted by  the  history  of  the  sciences  and  the  history  of  empires,  holds, 
most  undoubtedly,  an  elevated  rank  among  the  human  species." 

Upon  the  motion  of  Mirabeau  the  Assembly  wore 
mourning  for  three  days  ;  its  President  wrote  a 
letter  of  condolence  to  Congress  ;  eulogies  were 
spoken ;  the  Paris  Commune  marked  the  event  in  a 
fitting  way,  and  the  printers  of  the  capital  held  a 
meeting  at  which,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  assem- 
blage, they  did  honour  to  the  departed  member  of 
thetr  craft.  A  little  later  one  of  the  streets  of  Passy 
was  named  after  the  beloved  Franklin.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  tide  of  homage  would  never  turn." 


*  Franklin's  fortune  was  valued,  before  his  death,  as  worth  at  least 
$150,000— a  large  sum  for  those  days.  In  his  will  he  provided  lib- 
erally for  Mrs.  Bache  and  her  husband,  made  lesser  bequests  to  vari- 
ous other  members  of  his  family,  rememl^ered  several  of  his  old 
friends  by  presents  of  personal  effects,  and  left,  besides  other  lega- 
cies a  fund  of  ;^2000  steriing  to  be  used,  primarily,  in  assisting 
"young  married  artificers  "  of  Boston  and  Philadelphia,  who  desired 
to  borrow  small  sums  at  interest— a  very  charitable  idea,  which  did  not, 
however,  prove  as  popular  with  the  "  artificers"  as  the  testator  ex- 
pected. One  of  Franklin's  private  bequests  was  to  Washington  : 
"  My  fine  crab  tree  walking  stick,  with  a  gold  head  curiously  wrought 
in  the  form  of  the  cap  of  liberty,  I  give  to  my  friend,  and  the  friend 
of  mankind,  General  Washiugton.  If  it  were  a  sceptre  he  has 
merited  it ;  and  would  become  it." 


344  Benjamin  Franklin  [1784- 

Thus  to  a  life  of  singular  completeness  came  a 
well-rounded,  appropriate  ending.  As  it  was  Frank- 
lin's privilege  to  bring  to  a  successful  issue  so  many 
of  the  projects,  great  and  small,  for  which  he 
laboured,  so  was  it  his  fortune  to  die  in  the  incense- 
burning  atmosphere  that  rises  from  the  ministering 
love  of  kindred  and  the  admiration  of  the  world. 
He  lived  to  see  America  take  her  place  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  to  see  the  realisation  of  his 
fondest  hopes,  and  then,  ere  age  had  dimmed  that 
brilliant  mind  or  caused  him  to  lag  superfluous  on 
the  scene,  friendly  death  arrived  at  the  nick  of  time. 

The  best  estimate  of  the  philosopher's  genius  is  to 
be  found  in  the  simple  record  of  his  achievements, and 
in  the  indelible  mark  which  they  have  left  behind 
as  a  noble  heritage  to  posterity.  These  achieve- 
ments speak  more  eloquently  than  a  hundred  ora- 
tions or  pages  of  adjectives.  Franklin  had  his 
weaknesses  and  his  er?'ata,  but  he  was  of  heroic 
mould,  for  all  that,  and  everyone,  save  professors 
of  a  cheap  cynicism,  can  forget  the  failings  of  the 
man  in  recalling  his  magnificent  usefulness,  the 
natural  gifts  which  he  employed  in  the  finest  spirit 
of  altruism,  and  the  patriotic  heart  that  guided  the 
mighty  head.  Lofty,  yet  practical,  in  statesman- 
ship, brilliant  in  science,  luminous  in  writing,  fear- 
less in  love  of  country,  humane  in  disposition, 
genial  in  intercourse  with  his  fellows,  helpful  in  all 
things,  and  colossal  in  the  power  to  compass  his  ends 
— such  was  he  upon  whose  like  we  are  not  to  look 
again.  For  there  can  be  but  one  Franklin.  There 
have  been,  as  there  will  be  again,  greater  statesmen. 


i79o] 


Final  Days 


;45 


deeper  thinkers,  and  more  dazzling  personalities 
than  he,  yet  in  versatility  of  talent,  catholicity  of 
intellect,  and  variety  of  accomplishment  he  stands 
without  a  peer.  As  his  "  single  breast  contained 
the  spirit  of  his  nation,"  so,  likewise,  did  it  contain 
the  spirit  of  a  hundred  different  interests.  The 
world  at  large  has  cause  to  thank  him,  while  to 
Americans  he  will  always  be  the  typical  patriot. 
That  is  not  the  patriot  of  the  pyrotechnic  kind,  who 
poses  as  a  stage  hero,  nor  the  politician  whose  heart 
is  in  his  purse;  it  is  the  patriot  who  has  been  essen- 
tial to  his  country,  and  whose  honesty  of  purpose 
should  be  studied  within  the  halls  of  every  legisla- 
ture in  the  land.     Such  was  Benjamin  Frankhn. 


£^>-J'A'^'^  ^d 


INDEX 


Adams,  John,  246,  249-251,  267, 
276,  277,  286,  287,  2S9,  291- 
295-  297-299 
Adams,  Samuel,  231,  277 
Address  "To  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Counties  of  Lancaster, 
York,    and  Cumljerland,"  98, 

99 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  Peace  of,  74 
Albany,  Convention  of,  83,  84 
Allen,   Chief-Justice,    139,     i^o, 

159,  160,  163,  302,  303 
American  Philosophical  Society, 

36,87 
An   Account  of  Negotiations  in 
London  for  Effecting  a  Recon- 
ciliation, etc.,  227 
An  Account  of  the  JVew-invented 
Pennsylvania  Fireplaces,   etc. , 
320,  321 
An   Account  of   the    Supretnest 
Court  of  Judicature  in  Penn- 
sylvania, etc.,  338-340 
Andre,  Major,  337 
Arnold,  Benedict,  244,  245 
Austin,  Jonathan  Lnriiig,  28S 
Autobiography,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin's,  quoted,    3-6,   9,    12,   15, 
16,  18-20,   23,   26,  29,  31,  33- 
36,   47,  48,   50-52,  54,  55.  58. 
69-72,  75-78,  84,  86,  90,  91. 
96-100,    104,    105,    108,    113- 


117,    121-123,    125-135,    137, 
13S,  314-316,  31S.  319.  321 


B 


Bache,  Benjamin  F.,  260,  261 
Bache,  Richard,  311,  312,   329, 

343 
Bache,  Sarah  {See  Sarah  Frank- 
lin) 
Bagatelles  i(\\\^t),  281,  324 
Bancroft,  George,  quoted,  84,  85, 

169,  170,  182,  183,  273 
Barclay,  David,  230,  231 
Barclay,  Messrs.,  140 
Bariatinski,  Prince,  296 
Basket,  King's  printer,  26 
Bath,  Earl  of,  141 
Beaumarchais,  P.  A.  Caron,  253- 

257,    261-263,    268-270,    279, 

288 
Bernard,  Governor,  187 
Biddle,  John,  302 
Bigelow,  John,  3,  333 
Bollan,  William,  21Q,  211 
Bond,  Dr.,  90 
Bostock,  N.,  43 
Boston  Gazette,  ir,  203 
Boston  "  Tea  Party,"  199 
Bourbon,  Duchess  of,  270,  271 
Braddock,  General,  92-109,  129, 

181,  243,  304,  305 
Bradford.  Andrew,  18-20,36-38, 

44,  49,  65,  88,  89 


347 


548 


Index 


Bradford,  Messrs.,  i8o 
Bradford,  William,  17-20 
Brillon,  Madame,  2S1,  328 
Brocker,  William,  11 
Budden,  Captain,  309 
Burgoyne,    General,    271,     272, 

288,  313 
Burke,  Edmund,  141 
Burke,  William,  141 
Burnet,  Governor,  23 
Busybody  papers,  38,  39,  323 
Bute,  Lord,  iSi 


Cambridge  University,   135,  136 

Campbell,  John,  11 

Canton,  Mr.,  318 

Carlisle,  conference  at,  77,  78 

Carroll,  Charles,  244 

Carroll,  Rev.  John,  244,  245 

Cerdicus,  194 

Chamberlain,  Mellin,  198 

Charles,  Mr.,  138 

Charlotte,  consort  of  George  III., 

183,  184 
Chase,  Samuel,  244 
Chatham,  Earl  of,  129,  135,  142, 

175,    176,   225,   227-229,   235- 

237 
Cibber,  Colley,  27 
Clapham,  Colonel,  1 16 
Clinton,  Governor,  69 
Coleman,  William,  47,  48 
Collins,  John,  17,  20,  23,  24,  47, 

60 
CoUinson,  Peter,  131,  314,  315 
'  'Committee  of  Correspondence," 

198,  204 
Congress  (colonial  and  independ- 
ent), 227,    232,   233,   239-242, 
244-251,   256-260,    270,    290- 

294.  325,  327,  337.  338,  342 
Convention  of  1787,  330-336 
Cool    Thoughts    on   the   Present 
Situation  of  our  Public  Af- 
fairs, 157,  158,  323 
Cornwallis,  Lord,  293,  331 
Coultas,  Captain,  305,  307 
Gushing,  Thomas,  igi,  213,  219, 
222 


D 


Dalibard,  M..  316 

Dartmouth,    Earl  of,    192,    193, 

204,  205,  239 
Davenport,  Ivlr.,  174 
Deane,  Silas,  257,  259,  261-264, 

26S-270,  276,  287,  290 
De  Berdt,  Mr.,  188 
Declaration     of     Independence, 

signed  by  Franklin,  245,  246 
Defoe,  Daniel,  7 
De    Grey,    Lord    Chief-Justice, 

212,  213 
De  la  Roche,  Abbe,  279 
De  Lor,  M.,  316 
Denham,  Mr.,  30,  31 
Denmark,  King  of,  296,  297 
Denny,  Governor,  120-127,  136, 

D'Estang,  Count,  274 

Dialogue  betiueen  Franklin  and 

the  Gout,  279,  280 
Dialogue  between  X,   V,  and  Z, 

etc.,  112,  113,  323 
Dickinson,  John,   159,   162-164, 

173 

Dinwiddle,  Governor,  80 

Dissertation  on  Liberty  and  Ne- 
cessity, Pleasure  and  Pain,  28 

Do  6't7(?i/ papers,  13 

Dubourg,  Dr.,  257-259 

Dunbar,  Colonel,   103,  108,  109 

Dunning,  John,  213,  217 

Du  Nord,  Count,  296 


East  India  Company,  198,  199 
Edict  of  the  King  of  Prussia, 

194-197 
Edinburgh  University,  136 
Edison,  Franklin  compared  with, 

322 
Ephemera  (^The^,  281 


Fisher,  Daniel,  301-308 
Folger,  Abiah,  5 


Index 


549 


Folger,  Peter,  5 

Foster,  Dr.  James,  54 

Foster,  Jolin,  quoted,  322 

Fothergill,  Dr.,  131,  231 

Fox,  Charles  James,  288 

Fox,  Joseph,  151 

Franklin,  Benjamin  :  contrasts  in 
his  career,  2,  3  ;  ancestors,  4  ; 
birth,  5  ;  childhood,  6,  7  ;  ap- 
prenticed to  printing,  8  ;  early 
reading,  7-9  ;  works  for  Boston 
Gazette^  12-16  ;  leaves  Boston, 
17  ;  reaches  Philadelphia,  18, 
19  ;  employed  by  Keimer,  20  ; 
returns  to  Boston,  22  ;  back  in 
Philadelphia,  23  ;  sails  for  Lon- 
don, 25  ;  life  in  London,  26- 
30;  home  again,  31  ;  in  Bur- 
lington, 35  ;  founds  printing- 
house,  with  Meredith,  35,  36  ; 
the  Junto,  36,  37;  publishes 
Pennsylvania  Gazette,  40  ;  es- 
taljlishes  Poor  Richard's  Al- 
vtanac,  44  ;  dissolves  partner- 
ship with  Meredith,  48;  marries 
Deborah  Read,  51  ;  visits  Bos- 
ton, 53  ;  establishes  Philadel- 
phia Library,  56,  57;  his  versa- 
tility, 59-61  ;  political  virtues, 
62,  63 ;  made  postmaster  of 
Philadelphia,  64  ;  opposes 
Quakers,  65-74  ;  elected  to  the 
Assembly,  75  ;  visits  Carlisle, 
77,  78  ;  made  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral of  the  Colonies,  79;  attends 
Albany  Convention,  83  ;  con- 
nection with  public  institutions, 
87  ;  his  magazine,  87-89  ;  aids 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  90,  91; 
contrast  to  Braddock,  95 ;  meets 
Braddock,  96  ;  aids  Braddock, 
98-100  ;  described  by  I'hack- 
eray,  loi,  102  ;  opinion  of 
Braddock,  108  ;  draws  up  mi- 
litia bill,  112;  commissioned 
colonel,  113;  fortifies  Gnaden- 
hutten,  115  ;  angers  Thomas 
Penn,  iiS  ;  receives  Governor 
Denny,  120-123  ;  meets  Lord 
Loudoun,  125  ;  sails  for  Lon- 


don, 12S ;  reaches  London, 
130,  131  ;  interview  with  the 
Penns,  133  ;  English  civilities, 
135.  136  ;  outwits  the  Penns, 
138;  abused  by  enemies,  140; 
political  writings,  141,  142  ; 
returns  to  America,  143  ;  hon- 
oured at  home,  144,  145  ;  de- 
scribes Paxton  massacre,  147- 
150;  assists  Governor  Penn, 
152-154;  writes  Cool  Thoughts , 
157.  15S;  made  Speaker  of 
Assembly,  159  ;  defeated  at 
election,  162  ;  controversy 
with  proprietary  party,  162- 
166;  in  London  again,  167; 
opposes  Stamp  Act,  169  ;  nom- 
inates Hughes,  170,  171  ;  sud- 
den unpopularity,  1 71-174  ; 
urges  repeal,  176  ;  examination 
before  the  House  of  Commons, 
176-179  ;  the  victim  of  cal- 
umny, 180,  181  ;  visits  Paris, 
1S3,  184  ;  interview  with  Hills- 
borough, 186-190  ;  further  ex- 
periences with  Hillsborough, 
190-193  ;  Edict  of  the  King  of 
Prussia,  194-197  ;  reads  the 
Hutchinson  letters,  201-203  '> 
writes  Lord  Dartmouth,  204, 
205  ;  exonerates  Temple,  2cg  ; 
before  the  Privy  Council,  2ii- 
213  ;  sued  by  Whately,  214, 
215  ;  assailed  by  Wedderburn, 
217-221  ;  dismissed  from  the 
postmaster-generalship,  222  ; 
designs  his  Magna  Britannia, 
225,  226;  meets  Lord  Chat- 
ham, 227-229;  plays  chess  with 
Mistress  Howe,  230-233  ;  in- 
terview with  Lord  Howe,  233, 
234  ;  insulted  by  Lord  Sand- 
wich, 236  ;  death  of  Deborah 
Franklin,  23S,  239  ;  returns  to 
Philadelphia,  239  ;  hispersonal 
appearance,  240  ;  attends  Con- 
gress, 240-242  ;  confers  with 
Washington,  242,  243  ;  mission 
to  Canada,  244,  245  ;  signs 
Declaration  of   Independence, 


350 


Index 


Franklin,  Benjamin — Continued 
245,  246  ;  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Convention,  248;  confers 
with  Lord  Howe,  250-252  ; 
writes  to  Dubourg,  257  ;  sails 
for  France  as  envoy,  260 ; 
at  Nantes,  263  ;  arrives  in 
Paris,  266  ;  his  popularity, 
267  ;  hears  of  Burgoyne's  sur- 
render, 272  ;  signs  the  French 
treaties,  273  ;  received  at  Ver- 
sailles, 274-276  ;  his  mode  of 
life,  described  by  John  Adams, 
277  ;  the  Dialogue  between 
Franklin  and  the  Gont,  279, 
280  :  at  a  fete  champetre,  281, 
282 ;  correspondence  with 
Hartley,  283-285;  the  "  de 
Weissenstein  "  incident,  285- 
288;  made  sole  plenipotentiary, 
290;  disagreement  vvitli  Adams, 
291-293 ;  working  for  jjcace, 
294-298  ;  signs  the  preliminary 
treaty  with  Great  Britain,  298; 
appeases  De  Vergennes,  299  ; 
further  diplomatic  work,  300  ; 
kind  treatment  of  Daniel 
Fisher,  303-308  ;  his  domestic 
interests,  308-313  ;  electrical 
researches,  314-319;  invents 
the  Armonica,  320  ;  the 
"Franklin  stove,"  320,  321  ; 
his  literary  achievements,  322- 
324  ;  reconciliation  with  Wil- 
liam Franklin,  326,  327  ;  leaves 
France,  328  ;  returns  to  Phila- 
delphia, 329,  330  ;  becomes 
President  of  Pennsylvania, 
330;  services  in  the  Convention 
of  1787,  332-336;  writes  to 
Madame  Lavoisier,  337  ;  criti- 
cises freedom  of  the  press,  338- 
340  ;  his  death,  341  ;  funeral, 
341,  342  ;  sorrow  in  France, 
343  ;  his  will,  343  ;  estimate  of 
his  life  and  character,  344,  345 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  Sr.  ;  uncle 
of  Dr.  Franklin,  4 

Franklin,  Deborah,  19,  20,  24, 
27,31,  50-52,60,61,  135,  137, 


144,   145.    166,   173,   174,  238, 

239,  .303.  304,  306-312,  342 
Franklin,  Francis  F.,  53 
Franklin,  James,   8,    11-17,  22, 

53 
Franklin,  John,   22 
Franklin,  Josiah,  4-8,  17,21,  22, 

158  _ 
Franklin,  Samuel,  8 
Franklin,  Sarah,   144,  166,   173, 

174,   181,   239,   306,   309-314, 

337,  343 

Franklin,  Thomas,  4 

Franklin,  Mrs.  William,  145,  146 

Franklin,    William,    18,    76,    80, 

97,    103,    126,    131,    135,    143, 

173,   181,    185,    192,    197,  227, 

238,    239,   242,    305-308,   310. 

317,  325-329 
Franklin,  William  Temple,  242, 

260,  261,  280,  326,  327 
Frederick  the  Great,    194,   196, 

197 
French,  Colonel,  21 
Fry,  Colonel,  82 


G 


Gage,  General,  226,  239 
Galileo,  Franklin  compared  with, 

322 
Galloway,  Joseph,  159-162 
Garrick,  David,  27,  135 
General  Magazine  and  Historical 

Chronicle,  87-89 
George  II.,  King,  103,  139 
George  HI.,  King,  142, 143,  180, 

183,   184,  202,  222,  223,  229, 

241,   246,  249,  272,  283,  285, 

286 
George  IV.,  King,  288 
Gerard,  M.,  272,  313 
Gibbon,  Edward,  265,  266 
Glen,  Governor,  81 
Godfrey,  Thomas,  35,  49,  50 
Godfrey,  Mrs.  Thomas,  49,  50 
Godsend ;  or.  The  Wreckers,  284, 

285 
Gower,  Lord,  219 
Grace,  Robert,  47,  48 


Index 


;5i 


Grafton,  Duke  of,  185 
Granville,  Lord,  131,   132 
Grenville,  George,  169-172,  176, 
181,  201 

H 

Halifax,  Lord,  94 
Halket,  Sir  Peter,  106,  107 
Hall,  David,  75,  311 
Hamilton,  James,  136,  147 
Hancock,  John,  247,  263,  286 
Handel,   George  Frederick,   135 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  243 
Hartley,  David,  2S3-285 
Harvard  College,  13,  87 
Hella,  194 
Helvetius,    Madame,    278,    279, 

2S1,  328 
Hemphill,  Rev.,  53,  54 
Hengist,  194 
Hewson,  Mrs.,  264 
Hillsborough,   Earl  of,    185-193 
Hinton,  J.  H..  quoted,  332,  333 
Hints  for  Conversation ,  etc.,  233 
Hopson,  Admiral,  43 
Horsa,  194 

Houdetot,  Countess  of,  281,  282 
Howe,  Hon.  Mrs.,  230-235 
Howe,  Lord,  230,  233-235,  237, 

238,  24S-252 
Howe,    Sir   William,    248,    249, 

271,  272 
Hughes,  John,  170-173 
Hunter,  William,  79 
Hutchinson,  Governor,  187-189, 

198,    200-202,    204-206,    209- 

211,  214,  217,  220-222,  226 
Hutchinson    letters,     affair    of, 

200-223 


Ida,  Angle  chieftain,  194 
Indians  :  conference  with  at  Car- 
lisle, 77,   78  ;  massacre  of  the 
Susquehannocks,  147-149 
Innis,  Colonel,  305 
Innis,  messenger,  127,  128 
Izard,     Ralph,     207,    208,     274, 
289-291 


J 


Jay,    John,    294,   295,    297-299, 

331 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  246,  247,  259, 

260,  299,  300,  327 
Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  204,  215 
Jones,  John  Paul,  2S8,  2S9 
Journal  of  tin-  A'rj^otiations  for 

Peace  with  Great  Britain^  294- 

297 
Junto  Club,  36,  37,  57 


K 


Karnes,  Lord,  143,  154 
Keimer,  Samuel,   19-21,  24,  31- 

40,  88 
Keith,  Sir   William,  21,  22,  24- 

26,  31 
Kennedy,  Captain,  130 
Kinnersley,  Mr.,  315 


Lafayette,  Marquis  of,  268,  290 
Laurens,  Henry,  299 
Lavoisier,  Madame,  337 
Le  Despencer,  Lord,  196,  197 
Lee,  Arthur,  188,  207,  20S,  213, 

255,    259-261,  263,    264,  268- 

270,  275,  289-291 
Lee,  John,  213,  217 
Lee,  William,  274 
Le  Roy,  M.,   296,  316 
Le  Veillard,  ^L,  336 
Logan,  James,  72,  73 
London  Chronicle,  142 
Lopez,  Captain,  74 
Loudoun,  Earl  of.  124-130 
Louis  XV.,  and  his  Queen,  1S4 
Louis  XVI  ,   253-255,  268,  272- 

275,  292,  299,  327,  328 
Lynch,  Thomas,  243 

M 

Macclesfield,  Earl  of,  319 
Magna  Britannia  ;  her  Colonies 
Reduced,  225,  226 


Index 


Mansfield,  Lord,  138,  139,  196 
Marie  Antoinette,  253,  254,  275, 

276,  327,  328 
Marlborough,  Duke  of,  105 
Mather,  Cotton,  5,  7 
Mather,  Increase,  14 
Mauduit,  Israel,  210-212 
McMaster,  John    Bach,  quoted, 

167 
Mecom,  Jane,  310 
Mercer,  Mr.,  307 
Mercury    (Bradford's),     37,    38, 

43,  44,  49,  65,  88,  89 
Meredith,  Hugh,  34-37,  40,  47, 

48 
Meredith,  Sr.,  35,  47,  48 
Mirabeau,  343 
Modest  Enquiry  into  the  Nature 

and  Necessity  of  a  Paper  Cur- 
rency^ 39 
Monongahela,  battle  of  the,  106, 

107 
Morris,  Captain,  125 
Morris,    Governor,    86,    87,    93, 

109,  no,  113,  115,  120,  123 
Morris,  James,  71,  72 

N 

Narrative  of  the  Late  Massacres 

in  Lancaster  County,  149,  150 

Necessary   Hints    to    those   that 

would  be  Rick,  323 
Nelson,  Hon.  Mr.,  302 
Ne7i)  England  Courajit,  11-17 
News  Letter,  11,  12 
Nollet,  Abbe,  315,  316 
Norris,  Isaac,  77,  125,  159 
North,  Lord,  219,  226,  294 
Notes  for  Conversation,  295 


Oldfield,  Anne,  27 

Oliver,  Andrew,    201-206,  209- 

211,  220-222 
Opinions    and    Conjectures   con- 

certiing     the     Properties    and 

Effects  of  the  Electrical  Matter , 

etc.,  317,  318 
Orme,  Captain,  107 


Oswald,  Richard,  294,  295 
Oxford  University,  136 


Palmer,  Anthony,  69,  70 

Paris,  Ferdinand  John,  134,  138 

Parton,  James,   quoted,  192,  240 

"  Paxton  Boys,"  146-155 

Paxton,  Charles,  203 

Penet,  M.,  264 

Penn,  John, 147,  148,  151-158 

Penn,    Richard,     56,    119,    121, 

133-137,  139.  147,  160,  161 
Penn,    Thomas,     56,    118,    119, 

121,  133-137,  139,  160,  161 
Penn,  William,  72,  73,  147 
Pennsylvania  Gazette,  40-44,  46- 

49,  58,  65,  75,  82,  83.  88 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  87,  go,  91 
Pennsylvania  Journal,  180,  181 
Peter  the  Great,  297 
Pettit,  Mr.,  162 
Philadelphia,  growing  prosperity 

of,  56 
Philadelphia  Library,  56,  57 
Pitt,  William  {See  Earl  of  Chat- 

ham) 
Plain  Truth,  67-69,  72,  73 
Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  44-46, 

75 
Pope,  Alexander,  24 
Pownall,  John,  187-189 
Pratt,  Henry,  64 
Price,  Richard,  279 
Priestley,    Dr.,     219,   221,    222, 

240,  243 
Pringle,  Sir  John,  183,  184 
Public  Advertiser,  195,  209 
Pub  lick  Occurrences,  10,  11 


Quakers:  influence  of,  56; 
Franklin  opposes  their  non-re- 
sistance policy,  65-75 

R 

Ralph,   James,   24-29,   60,    124, 

131 
Raynal,  Abbe,  271 


Index 


35, 


Read,  Deborah  {Sec  Deborah 
Franklin) 

Read,  Mr.,  20 

Read,  Mrs.,  50 

Reed,  Joseph,  162 

Remarks  Concirnim^  the  Savages 
of  North  America,  78,  79 

Re/narks  on  a  Late  Protest,  etc., 
164-166 

Reveii'^e  {7'he),  quoted,  219 

Riddlesdeii,  attorney,  26 

Rocliambeau,  Count  of,  291 

Rochefoucauld,  Cartlinal  de  la, 
328 

Rochefoucauld,  Due  de  la,  300 

Rockingham,   Marquis  of,    175 

Rogers,  Mr.,  50,  51 

Rides  for  Reditciiig  a  Great  Em- 
pire to  a  Small  One,  193,  197, 

323.  324 
Rush,  Dr.,  260 
Rutledge,  Edward,  249-251 


S 


Saint-Pierre,  commander,  81 
Sandwich,  Lord,   185,  236,  237, 

239 
Sargent,    W.,    quoted,    94,    106, 

107 
Schroeder,    Dr.    J.    F.,    quoted, 

331 
Shay,  Daniel,  332 
Shehaes,    the    Indian,    147,    149, 

155 
Shelburne,  Lord,  288,  294,  295 
Shepherd,    Dr.    W.   R.,    quoted, 

123 
Shirley,  Governor,  85,  loS 
Socrates,   Franklin  compared 

with,  59,  60 
Soumien,  Mr.,  303,  306 
Sparks,  Jared,  quoted,  177,  320 
Spence,  Dr.,  314 
Spotswood,  Governor,  64,  65,  89 
St.  Asaph,  Bisliop  of,  329 
St.  Clair,  Quartermaster-General, 

96,  100 
Stamp  Act,  passed,  169;  repealed, 

180 


Stanhope,  Lord,  235 
Stevenson,  Mrs.,  310 
Stone,  Dr.  b'.  I).,  90 
.^tormont.    Lord,  262,  263,  265, 

267,  26(),  274 
Story  of  til e  Whistle,  28 1 
Strahan,  Wdliam,  215,  241 


Temple,  John,  206-209 
Thackeray,     \V.     M.,    95,    loo  ; 

quoted,  101-103 
Thomas,  Governor,  66,  69,  321 
Thomson,  Charles,   170 
Trent,  Captain,  82 
Tucker,  Rev.  Dr.,  171 
Tyler,    Moses  Coit,    quoted,  59, 

60 


U 


Uffa,  194 

Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts 

and  Sciences,  38,  40 
University  of   Pennsylvania,  87, 

90 
University  of  St.  Andrew,  136 


Vergennes,    Count    of,  254-256, 
261,  263,  265,  268,   272,   275, 
287,  291-295,  297-299,  327,  328 
Vernon,  Mr.,  22,  23,  47 
Virginians  { The),  roi-103 
Voltaire,  253,  276 

W 

Walpole,  PL,  quoted,  93 

Walthoe,  Mr.,  307 

Ward,  ensign,  82 

Washington,  George,  80-82,  95, 
106,  240,  242,  243,  277,  2b<), 
313.  327.  330-332,  334.  336. 
340,  343 

W^atson,  Dr.,  318 

Watson,  J.  F.,  quoted,  110 


354 


Index 


I'Fay  to  Wealth  (  The),  46,  323 
Webbe,  John,  87-S9 
Wedderburii,     Alexander,     211- 

213,  215-222,  224 
Weissenstein,  Charles   de,    2S5- 

2S8 
Whately,  Thomas,  206-209,214, 

215,  218 
Wh?.tely,     William,    20i,     206, 

207,  214,  217,  218 


Whitefield,  Kev.  George,  55,  56 
Whitehead,    Paul,  196,  197 
Wilkes,  comedian,  27 
Willing,  Thomas,  163 
Wood,  Dr.,  90 
Wright,  Dr.,  31 3 


Yale  College,  87 


■;■■  ^WUT-^-rr^U-- 


Heroes  of  the  Nations. 


EDITED  BY 


EVELYN  ABBOTT,  M.A., 
Fellow  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford. 


A  Series  of  biographical  studies  of  the  Hves  and  work 
of  a  number  of  representative  historical  characters  about 
\yhom  have  gathered  the  great  traditions  of  the  Nations 
to  which  they  belonged,  and  who  have  been  accepted,  in 
many  instances,  as  types  of  the  several  National  ideals. 
With  the  life  of  each  typical  character  will  be  presented 
a  picture  of  the  National  conditions  surrounding  him 
during  his  career. 

The  narratives  are  the  work  of  writers  who  are  recog- 
nized authorities  on  their  several  subjects,  and,  while 
thoroughly  trustworthy  as  history,  will  present  picturesque 
and  dramatic  "  stories  "  of  the  Men  and  of  the  events  con- 
nected with  them. 

To  the  Life  of  each  "  Hero  "  will  be  given  one  duo- 
decimo volume,  handsomely  printed  in  large  type,  pro- 
vided with  maps  and  adequately  illustrated  according  to 
the  special  requirements  of  the  several  subjects.  The 
volumes  will  be  sold  separately  as  follows  : 


Large  12°,  cloth  extra    . 

Half  morocco,  uncut  edges,  gilt  top 


$1    50 
I  75 


The  following  are  now  ready 


Nelson,  and  the  Naval  Supremacy  of  England.     By  W.  Clark  Russei  l,  author  A 

"  The  Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,"  etc. 
Gustavus  Adolphus  and  the  Struggle  of  Protestantism  for  Existence.     By  .^  R. 

L.  Fi.ETCHbR,  M.A.,  late  Fellow  of  All  Souls  College. 
Pericles,  and  the  Golden  Age  of  Athens.     By  Evelyn  Abbott,  M.A. 
Theodoric   the   Goth,    the    Barbarian    Champion   of  Civilisation.      By  Thomas 

HoDCKiN,  author  of  "  Italy  and  Her  Invaders,"  etc. 
Sir  Philip  Sidney,   and  the  Chivalry  of  England.     By  H.  R.  Fox  Bourns,  auth 

of  "  The  Life  of  John  Locke,"  etc. 
Julius   Caesar,   and   the    Organisation   of  the   Reman    Empire.     By  W.   Wari' 

F'dwler,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford. 
John  Wyclif,  Last  of  the  Schoolmen  and  First  of  the  English  Reformers      rJv 

Lewis  Sergeant,  author  of  "  New  Greece,"  etc. 
Napoleon,  Warrior  and  Ruler,  and  the  Military  Supremacy  of  Revolutionary 

France.     By  W.  O'Connor  Morris. 
Henry  of  Navarre,  and  the  Huguenots  of  France.     By  P.  F.  Willert,  M.A.,  Fet 

low  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford. 
Cicero,  and  the  Fall  of  the  Roman  Republic.     By  J.  L.  Strachan-Davidson,  M.A 

Fellow  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford. 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  Downfall  of  American  Slavery.     By  Noah  Brooks. 
Prince  Henry  (of  Portugal)  the  Navigator,  and  the  Age  of  Discovery,     By  C.  R. 

Beazlev,  Fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford. 
Julian  the  Philosopher,  and  the  Last  Struggle  of  Paganism  against  Christianity. 

By  Alice  Gardnrr. 
Louis  XIV.,   and  the  Zenith   of  the    French   Monarchy.     By  Arthur  Hassall, 

M.A.,  Senior  Student  of  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford. 
Charles  XII.,  and  the  Collapse  of  the  Swedish  Empire,  1682-1719.     By  R.  Nisbet 

Bain. 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  and  Florence  in  the  15th  Century.     By  Edward  Armstrong, 

M.A.,  Fellow  of  Queens's  College,  Oxford. 
Jeanne  d'Arc.     Her  Life  and  Death.     By  Mrs.  Oliphant. 
Christopher  Columbus.     His  Life  and  Voyages.     By  Washington  Irving. 
Robert  the  Bruce,  and  the  Struggle  for  Scottish  Independence.     By  Sir  Herbert 

Maxwell,  M.P. 
Hannibal,  Soldier,  Statesman.  Patriot  ;  and  the  Crisis  of  the  Struggle  between 

Carthage  and  Rome.     By  W.  O'Connor  Mokris,  Sometime  Scholar  of  Oriel  Col- 
lege, Oxford. 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  and  the  Period  of  National  Preservation  and  Reconstruction, 

1822-1885.     By  LiEUT.-CoL.  William  Conant  Church. 
Robert   E.   Lee,    and    the    Southern    Confederacy,    1807-1870.     By   Prof.   Henry 

Alexandrr  White,  of  the  Washington  and  Lee  University. 
The  Cid  Campeador,  and   the   Waning   of  the   Crescent  in  the  ^Vest.     By  H« 

Butler  Clarke,  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford. 

To  be  followed  by  : 
Moltke,  and  the  Military  Supremacy  of  Germany.     By  Spencer  Wilkinson,  Lon. 

don  University. 
Bismarck.     The  New  German  Empire,  How  it  Arose  and  What  it  Displaced. 

By  W.  J.  Headlam,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  King's  Collage. 
Judas  Maccabaeus.  the  Conflict  between  Hellenism  and  Hebraism.     By  Israel 

Abrahams,  author  of  the  "  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages." 
Henry  V.,  the  English  Hero  King.     By  Charles  L.  Kingsford,  joint-author  of  the 
■  Story  of  the  Crusades." 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS.  New  York  and  London. 


The  Story  of  the  Nations. 


Messrs.  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS  take  pleasure  in 
announcing  that  they  have  in  course  of  publication,  in 
co-operation  with  Mr.  T.  Fisher  Unwin,  of  London,  a 
series  of  historical  studies,  intended  to  present  in  a  graphic 
manner  the  stories  of  the  different  nations  that  have 
attained  prominence  in  history. 

In  the  story  form  the  current  of  each  national  life  is 
distinctly  indicated,  and  its  picturesque  and  noteworthy 
periods  and  episodes  are  presented  for  the  reader  in  their 
philosophical  relation  to  each  other  as  well  as  to  universal 
history. 

It  is  the  plan  of  the  writers  of  the  different  volumes  to 
enter  into  the  real  life  of  the  peoples,  and  to  bring  them 
before  the  reader  as  they  actually  lived,  labored,  and 
struggled— as  they  studied  and  wrote,  and  as  they  amused 
themselves.  In  carrying  out  this  plan,  the  myths,  with 
which  the  history  of  all  lands  begins,  will  not  be  over- 
looked, though  these  will  be  carefully  distinguished  from 
the  actual  history,  so  far  as  the  labors  of  the  accepted 
historical  authorities  have  resulted  in  definite  conclusions. 
The  subjects  of  the  different  volumes  have  been  planned 
to  cover  connecting  and,  as  far  as  possible,  consecutive 
epochs  or  periods,  so  that  the  set  when  completed  will 
present  in  a  comprehensive  narrative  the  chief  events  in 
the  great  STORY  OF  THE  NATIONS;  but  it  is,  of  course, 
not  always  practicable  to  issue  the  several  volumes  in 
their  chronological  order. 


The  "Stories"  are  printed  in  good  readable  type,  and 
in  handsome  i2n'io  form.  They  are  adequately  illustrated 
and  furnished  with  maps  and  indexes.  Price,  per  vol., 
cloth,  $1.50.     Half  morocco,  gilt  top,  $1.75. 

The  following  are  now  ready  : 


GREECE.  Prof,  Jas.  A.  Harri- 
son. 

ROME.     Arthur  Gilman. 

THE  JEWS.  Prof.  James  K. 
Hosmer. 

CHALDEA.     Z.  A.  Ragozin. 

GERMANY.    S.  Baring-Gould. 

NORWAY.  Hjalmar  H.  Boye- 
sen. 

SPAIN,  Rev.  E.  E.  and  Susan 
Hale. 

HUNGARY.  Prof.  A.  Vambery. 

CARTHAGE.  Prof.  Alfred  J. 
Church. 

THE  SARACENS.  Arthur  Gil- 
man. 

THE  MOORS  IN  SPAIN. 
Stanley  Lane-Poole. 

THE  NORMANS.  Sarah  Orne 
Jewett, 

PERSIA.     S.  G.  W.  Benjamin. 

ANCIENT  EGYPT.  Prof.  Geo. 
Rawlinson. 

ALEXANDER'S  EMPIRE. 
Prof.  J.  P.  Mahaffy. 

ASSYRIA.     Z.  A.  Ragozin. 

THE  GOTHS.    Henry  Bradley. 

IRELAND.  Hon.  Emily  Law- 
less. 

TURKEY.  Stanley  Lane- 
Poole. 

MEDIA,  BABYLON,  AND 
PERSIA.     Z.  A.  Ragozin. 

MEDIEVAL  FRANCE.  Prof. 
Gustave  Masson. 

HOLLAND.  Prof.  J.  Ti,orold 
Rogers. 

MEXICO.     Susan  Hale. 

PHCENICIA.    Geo.  Rawlinson. 

THE  HANSA  TOWNS.  Helen 
Zimmeitt. 


EARLY  BRITAIN,  Prof.  Al- 
fred J.  Church. 

THE  BARBARY  CORSAIRS, 
Stanley  Lane-Poole. 

RUSSIA.     W.  R.  Morfill. 

THE  JEWS  UNDER  ROME. 
W.  D.  Morrison. 

SCOTLAND,  John  Mackin- 
tosh. 

SWITZERLAND.  R,  Stead 
and  Mrs.  A,  Hug. 

PORTUGAL,  H.  Morse  Ste- 
vens. 

THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE. 
C.  W.  C.  Oman. 

SICILY.     E.  A.  Freeman. 

THE  TUSCAN  REPUBLICS. 
Bella  Duffy. 

POLAND.     W.  R.  Morfill. 

PARTHIA.     Geo.  Rawlinsoxi. 

JAPAN.     David  Murray. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  RECOV- 
ERY OF  SPAIN.  H.  E. 
Watts. 

AUSTRALASIA,  GrevilleTre- 
garthen. 

SOUTHERN  AFRICA.  Geo. 
M.  Theal. 

VENICE.     Alethea  Wiel. 

THE  CRUSADES.  T.  S. 
Archer  and  C.  L.  Kingsford. 

VEDIC  INDIA.  Z.  A.  Ragozin. 

BOHEMIA.     C.  E.  Maurice. 

CANADA.     J.  G.  Bourinot. 

THE  BALKAN  STATES. 
William    Miller. 

BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA, 
R.  W.  Frazer. 

MODERN  FRANCE.  Andr^ 
Le  Bon. 


A     000  106  922 


WEINSTOCK, 
LUBINXCO. 

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